UC-NRLF 


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J.a.  Welch 


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Prairie  Sa\oke 

(SECOND  EDITION.  REVISED) 


BY 

AELVIN    RANDOLPH    GILAORE 

BISMARCK.  NORTH  DAKOTA 

1921 


A  COLLECTION  of  LORE  of  the  PRAIRIES 


COPYRIGHT  1922 
By   r^ELVlN    RANDOLPH   GILMORE 


%'> 


[4] 


MAP  TO  SHOW  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  NATIVE 
VIRIBES  IN  WHAT  IS  NOW  THE  STATE  OF  NORTH  DA- 
KOTA AND  ADJACENT  STATES. 

The  native  tribes  of  North  Dakota  are  of  three  different  linguistic 
stocks  or  races.  These  are  the  Algonkian,  Siouan  and  Caddoan.  The  Al- 
gonkian  race  is  represented  in  North  Dakota  by  one  nation,  the  Chippewa 
or  Ojibwa.  The  Siouan  race  is  represented  within  our  state  boundaries 
by  three  nations,  the  Dakota  (sometimes  called  Sioux),  the  Mandan,  and 
the  Hidatsa  (who  are  also  called  Gros  Ventre  and  Minnetari).  The  Cad- 
doan race  is  represented  by  one  nation,  the  Arikara.  Other  nations  of  the 
Caddoan  race  are  the  Pawnees,  the  Wichita  and  the  Waco  farther  south. 

The  domain  of  the  Dakota  nation  comprised  southern  Minnesota, 
northwest  Iowa,  almost  all  of  South  Dakota,  part  of  northwest  Nebraska, 
eastern  Wyoming,  and  the  southern  part  of  North  Dakota. 

The  Chippewa  domain  was  around  the  west  end  of  Lake  Superior  in 
northern  Wisconsin,  northern  Minnesota,  and  part  of  northeastern  North 
Dakota. 

The  Mandans,  Hidatsas  and  Arikaras  were  three  nations  allied  to- 
gether for  mutual  protection  against  the  encroachments  of  their  common 
enemies  who  pressed  upon  them  from  all  sides.  The  Mandan  as  an  in- 
dependent nation  held  domain  along  both  sides  of  the  Missouri  River  in 
what  is  now  the  central  part  of  North  Dakota.  The  Hidatsa  were  to  the 
east  of  the  Mandan.  The  Arikara  were,  some  centuries  ago,  in  northern 
Nebraska,  but  migrated  gradually  up  the  river.  Finally  they  were  so 
pressed  by  the  incursion  of  the  Dakotas  from  the  east  that  they  joined 
forces  with  the  Mandans,  who  allowed  them  place  in  their  country  in 
exchange  for  the  added  strength  which  their  numbers  gave  against  the 
common  enemy.  The  Hidatsas  and  the  Mandans  had  already,  before  this, 
made  alliance,  so  now  the  three  nations  were  allied  in  the  region  of 
the  upper  Missouri  River  within  what  is  now  North  Dakota,  extending 
westward  a  little  into  what  is  now  Montana. 

The  several  domains  of  the  various  native  tribes  or  nations  vnthin 
North  Dakota  and  adjacent  states  are  represented  on  this  map  as  follows: 


Dakota  by  horizontal  lines, 


Chippewa  by  vertical  lines 


:i::S:Ei 


Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara     alliance 
by  oblique  cross  hatching. 


Ponka  by  oblique  lines  slanting  to 
the  left. 


Omaha  by  oblique  lines  slanting  to 
the  right, 

Pawnee  by  horizontal  and  vertical 
cross-hatching. 


Oto  by  cross-hatching  of  lines  hor- 
izontal, oblique  left  and  right. 


DEDICATION 

To  the  Real  Pioneers  of  the  Great  Plains:  to  those  whose  questing 
spirit  first  sought  out  the  wonders  and  the  beauties  of  this  land; — its 
vast  reaches,  league  upon  league,  of  grassland,  verdant  in  springtime, 
sere  and  red  and  brown  in  autumn;  its  inviting  valleys  and  its  forbidding 
buttes; — to  those  whose  moccasined  feet  made  the  first  human  footprints 
upon  the  turf  of  these  prairies  and  upon  the  sands  of  these  river  mar- 
gins; v/hose  self-reliance  made  them  the  first  to  breast  the  current  of 
these  streams;  whose  humble  footpaths  over  the  land  have  now  become 
the  transcontinental  highways  of  the  world's  travel  and  trade;  to  those 
who  first  slaked  thirst  at  these  cool,  clear  watersprings,  whose  hunger 
was  first  satisfied  by  the  fruits  of  this  land,  and  who,  in  eating  and  in 
drinking,  devoutly  gave  thanks  to  our  tender  Mother  Earth  for  her  boun- 
ties, receiving  them  gratefully  as  sacred  gifts  to  be  prudently  used  and 
thankfully  enjoyed,  and  never  to  be  wasted;  who  knew  and  loved  this  land 
in  all  its  spacious  extent,  east  to  west  and  south  to  north;  who  reverenced 
its  sacred  places,  the  holy  watersprings,  the  grand  and  silent  hills,  the 
mysterious  caves,  the  eery  precipices, — all  places  where  their  fathers  had 
with  prayer  and  fasting  sought  and  obtained  the  favour  of  the  gods,  and 
where  the  gods  had  granted  revelations  and  given  wisdom  to  their 
fathers;  to  those  whose  eyes  first  beheld  this  land  in  its  virgin  beauty, 
fresh  and  joyous,  unscarred  and  unspoiled,  clean  and  wholesome,  ani- 
mated with  exuberance  of  life  of  many  species  of  both  plant  and  animal 
in  wonderful  balance  and  adjustment,  spontaneously  replenished;  and  who 
held  it  a  form  of  sacrilege  to  violate  or  in  any  way  endanger  the  over- 
throw of  that  delicate  balance  of  nature; — ^to  those  first  inhabitants  of 
this  land  which  we  now  inhabit; 

That  something  of  their  appreciation,  of  their  love  and  reverence 
for  the  land  and  its  native  life,  something  of  their  respect  for  its  sacred 
places  and  holy  associations;  that  something  of  their  sense  of  its  charm, 
of  its  beauty  and  wonder,  may  come  to  us;  that  v/e  may  the  more  worthily 
occupy  and  more  sympathetically  enjoy  our  tenure  of  this  land. 

To  these  ends  and  purposes  this  book  is  hopefully  and  earnestly 
dedicated. 


[6] 


INTRODUCTION 

Many  persons  are  ever  seeking  outside  of  themselves  and  in  some 
distant  place  or  time  for  interest  and  cheer..  They  are  always  dis- 
contented and  complaining.  They  fancy  if  they  were  but  in  some  other 
place  or  other  circumstances  they  would  be  happy.  But  this  is  a  vain  fancy. 
Each  of  us  carries  v/ith  him  the  germs  of  happiness  or  of  unhappiness. 
Those  of  unhappy  disposition  will  be  unhappy  wherever  they  may  be. 
Cheer  is  not  in  environment,  but  in  the  individual.  One  who  is  of  a 
cheerful,  understanding  disposition  will  find  interest  and  cheer  wherever 
he  may  be. 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  well  said  "The  world  is  so  full  of  ? 
number  of  things  I  think  we  should  all  be  as  happy  as  kings."  When 
there  are  so  many  interesting  things  in  the  world,  so  many  in  any  given 
place,  so  many  more  than  one  can  ever  fully  know  or  enjoy  in  the  short 
span  of  human  lifetime,  how  can  one  ever  be  overtaken  by  dullness  ?  If 
dullness  seem  to  enfold  us,  be  sure  it  is  we  that  are  dull;  it  is  because  our 
minds  are  lazy  and  oiu-  eyes  unseeing.  There  is  enough  of  interest 
about  us  wherever  we  may  be  to  engage  our  attention  if  we  op-^n  our  eyes 
to  it.  If  we  have  initiative  and  independence  of  mind  we  shall  find  inter- 
est everywhere;  but  if  we  depend  upon  others  or  neglect  what  is  about  us 
in  desire  for  what  is  distant  we  shall  never  be  content.  One  greater  than 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson  said  "The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  within  you." 

It  is  with  the  purpose  of  calling  attention  to  some  of  the  many 
fascinatingly  interesting  things  which  we  have  all  about  us  on  the 
prairie  plains  and  in  the  hills  and  valleys  of  our  own  state,  and  perhaps 
in  our  own  neighborhood,  that  this  volume  is  produced.  The  myths 
which  pertain  to  the  hills,  valleys,  springs  and  streams  in  our  own  state 
and  in  our  own  neighborhood  must  be  of  interest  to  us  when  we  look  with 
our  own  eyes  upon  the  actual  places  to  which  these  myths  pertain.  And 
these  myths  of  the  country  in  which  we  live  are  at  least  equal  in  beauty 
and  interest  to  the  myths  of  the  Greeks,  and  to  the  old  Teutonic  myths  of 
Thor,  Odin,  and  Freya;  or  even  to  our  own  old  British  myths  which  we 
have  from  our  Druidic  ancestors.  And  however  beautiful  and  interesting 
in  itself  a  native  tree  or  flower  or  other  plant  may  be,  however  engaging 
to  the  attention  may  be  a  native  bird  or  beast,  how  much  more  so 
whtn  we  think  of  what  this  bird  or  beast  or  flower  or  tree  has  been  in 
the  lives  of  generations  of  our  fellow  creatures  who  have  lived  here  and 
loved  this  land  and  its  teeming  native  life  long  before  we  ever  saw  it. 

So,  it  is  vdth  the  purpose  of  directing  the  attention  of  our  people  to 
the  wealth  of  lore,  of  legend  and  story  and  myth,  and  of  wonder  and 
beauty  which  lies  all  about  us  here  if  we  but  look  and  listen,  that  this 
little  volume  is  presented. 

m 


The  title  of  this  book  is  suggested  by  one  of  the  popular  names  of  the 
flower  which  is  the  subject  of  one  of  the  stories  of  this  volume.  This 
flower,  the  earliest  of  all  to  bloom  in  springtime  over  all  the  northern 
prairies,  has  a  number  of  popular  names,  among  which  are  Pasque 
flower,  Gosling  flower,  and  Prairie  Smoke  flower.  The  latter  name  is 
suggested  by  the  nebulous  appearance  presented  by  a  patch  of  the  bluish 
flowers  blooming  upon  a  prairie  hillside  in  early  spring,  while  all  other 
vegetation  is  still  bro-wn  and  dead.  At  such  a  time,  with  all  their  blos- 
soms tremulous  in  the  spring  wind,  they  appear  to  the  view  like  a  pulsing 
cloud  of  grayish-blue  smoke  hovering  low  over  the  ground. 

Besides  the  reference  to  this  dearly-loved  prevernal  flower  the  term 
"prairie  smoke"  also  connotes  a  number  of  other  engaging  conceptions. 
To  one  who  has  lived  upon  the  prairie  this  term  will  recall  lively  recollec- 
tions of  both  sight  and  scent.  It  will  recall  to  the  imagination  memories 
of  rolling  billows  of  smoke  which  he  has  seen  covering  miles  of  advancing 
lines  of  prairie  fire;  he  will  see  again  in  memory  the  tiny  blue  spirals  of 
smoke  showing  where  some  solid  particles  still  smoulder  hours  after  the 
line  of  fire  has  passed  on  leaving  behind  a  vast  blackened  waste.  It  will 
recall  to  him  also  the  rare,  intangible  blue  haze  which  for  days  after 
such  a  fire  lay  like  a  veil  over  all  the  plain,  and  through  which  the  sun 
appeared  like  a  great  red  disk  hanging  in  the  sky,  while  the  air  was 
redolent  with  an  indescribable  tang.  Again,  it  brings  to  mind  the  wisps 
of  smoke  which  once  curled  upward  in  the  quiet  summer  air  from  stove- 
pipes projecting  from  the  roofs  of  prairie  sodhouses,  or  which  on 
snowy  winter  mornings  hung  above  them  like  thin  white  scarfs  against  a 
vast  background  of  blue  overhanging  a  white  world. 

It  will  bring  to  mind  also  other  days  and  other  scenes  of  this  same 
prairie  country,  when  there  might  be  seen  wreaths  of  smoke  issuing 
from  the  domes  of  the  hemispherical-shaped  houses  of  villages  of  Man- 
dans,  Pawnees,  or  Omahas,  upon  the  hills  and  river  terraces,  their  labor- 
iously tilled  cornfields  and  gardens  in  the  fertile  alluvial  valleys  near  by. 
Or,  again,  it  will  recall  the  scene  of  an  encampment  of  some  off  these 
people  out  upon  the  prairie  on  a  buffalo  hunt  in  quest  of  their  meat 
supply.  The  encampment  is  a  circle  of  conical  tents,  a  circle  of  perhaps 
a  half  mile  in  diameter.  Before  each  tent  the  evening  fire  is  twinkling  in 
the  dusk  upon  the  green  of  the  prairie,  a  circle  of  friendly  lights,  each  the 
centre  of  a  family  group,  while  a  few  stars  begin  to  twinkle  in  the  blue 
of  the  sky  above,  and  the  sunset  colours  glow  in  the  horizon. 

Some  or  all  of  these  sights  and  scents,  and  others  also,  will  present 
themselves  according  to  the  experience  of  the  one  who  comprehends  the 
title  "Prairie  Smoke." 

So  it  is  hoped  that  to  each  one  who  reads  this  little  volume  it  may 
indeed  be  as  a  "wisp  of  prairie  smoke,"  and  shall  bring  a  real  savour  of 
the  prairie  and  at  least  a  slight  realisation  of  what  the  Prairie  was  before 
it  was  swept  by  the  destructive  Fires  of  Change. 


[8] 


Land  and  People 


NATURE  AND  HEALTH 

The  philosophy  of  health  and  wholesomeness  of  the  native  Americans, 
the  Indians,  was  to  live  in  accordance  with  nature  and  by  coming  as 
much  as  possible  into  direct  physical  contact  with  the  elements  in  na- 
ture, such  as  the  sunshine,  the  rain  and  snow,  the  air  and  earth.  They 
felt  the  need  and  desire  to  be  in  frequent  and  immediate  contact  with 
"Mother  Earth,"  to  receive  upon  their  persons  the  strong  rays  of  the 
sun,  the  restorative  efficacy  of  the  winds  from  the  clean  sky,  and  to 
bathe  daily  in  living  streams. 

The  priest  of  a  certain  ritual  of  the  Pawnee  nation  visited  Washing- 
ton. He  admired  the  Washington  monument  as  he  viewed  it  from  the 
capitol.  When  he  went  over  to  visit  the  monument  he  measured  the 
dimensions  of  its  base  by  pacing;  then  he  stood  up  and  gazed  toward  its 
summit,  noting  its  height.  Then  he  went  inside;  but  when  he  was  asked 
whether  he  would  walk  up  the  stairway  or  go  on  the  lift,  he  said:  "I 
will  not  go  up.  White  men  like  to  pile  up  stones,  and  they  may  go  to  the 
top  of  them;  I  will  not.  I  have  ascended  the  mountains  made  by  Tirawa." 
(Tirawa  is  the  Pawnee  name  of  God.) 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Louis  J.  Hill  took  a  party  of  people  of  the 
Blackfoot  tribe  to  New  York  City  as  his  guests.  They  were  interested 
in  the  sight  of  the  great  engineering  feats  as  manifested  in  the  great 
structures  of  the  city.  But  they  were  unwilling  to  be  cooped  up  in  the 
rooms  of  the  hotel,  so  they  made  arrangements  to  be  allowed  to  set  up 
their  tents  upon  the  hotel  roof  so  that  they  might  at  least  have  the 
natural  sunlight  and  the  outdoor  air. 

In  an  ancient  Pawnee  ritual  there  is  a  hymn  which  begins  with  the 
words,  "Now  behold;  hither  comes  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  it  cometh 
over  all  the  land,  passeth  in  the  lodge,  us  to  touch  and  give  us  strength." 
And  in  another  stanza  of  this  hymn,  referring  to  the  passing  of  the 
sun,  it  continues,  "Now  behold  where  has  passed  the  ray  of  our  father 
Sun;  around  the  lodge  the  ray  has  passed  and  left  its  blessing  there, 
touching  us,  each  one  of  us." 

So  it  was  ever  the  aim  to  live  in  accord  with  nature,  to  commune 
often  with  nature.  A  word  of  admonition  from  the  wisdom  lore  of  the 
Menomini  tribe  says,  "Look  often  at  the  moon  and  the  stars."  And  the 
W^innebagoes  have  a  wise  saying:  "Holy  Mother  Earth,  the  trees  and  all 
nature,  are  witnesses  of  your  thoughts  and  deeds."     Another  admoni- 

[9] 


tion  of  Winnebago  wisdom  is:     "Reverence  the  Unseen  Forces  that  are 
always  near  you  and  are  always  trying  to  lead  you  right." 


SPIRIT  OF  LIFE 

In  the  following  verses  Dr.  A.  McG.  Beede  of  Fort  Yates,  North 
Dakota,  has  translated  a  prayer  he  once  heard  uttered  by  an  old  man  of 
the  Dakota  nation  who  had  just  come  from  bathing  in  the  river  and  was 
standing  upon  a  hill  giving  expression  to  his  feeling  of  adoration: 

Spirit  of  Life  in  things  above 
And  lovelier  in  things  below. 
We  pray  to  Thee,  All-being-love, 
Spontaneous  in  our  hearts  to  grow. 

Our  Father  Life,  we  live  in  Thee 
And  pray  for  glory  which  is  Thine, 
And  by  our  living  may  we  be 
As  Thou  art  in  the  Life  divine. 

The  trees  and  flowers  and  watersprings 
Are  singing  good  old  songs  of  mirth. 
So  may  we  sing  while  music  brings 
The  good  old  joy  o'er  all  the  earth. 

Spirit  of  Life,  sing  on,  sing  on; 
Sing  till  our  aching  hearts  find  rest 
And  anxious  fear  is  past  and  gone, 
And  like  the  rivers  we  are  blest. 

The  earth  is  singing,  hark  the  song; 
The  whispering  breezes  floating  by, 
The  waterstreams  gliding  along. 
Reflecting  faces  in  the  sky. 

Spirit  of  Life,  we  worship  Thee, 

With  waterstreams  and  trees  and  flowers; 

So  may  our  new-bom  spirits  be 

As  Thou  art,  and  Thy  glory  ours. 


ATTITUDE  TOWARDS  NATIVE  LIFE 

People  of  European  race  resident  in  America,  (Americans  we  call 
ourselves)  have  sentimental  regard  toward  the  plants  and  animals  na- 
tive to  Europe,  some  of  which,  domesticated  by  our  ancestors,  we  have 
brought  with  us  to  America.  But  most  of  our  people  have  not  developed 
such  sentiments  toward  the  plants  and  animals  native  to  America. 
Literary  allusions,  songs  and  stories  refer  to  trees,  flowers,  birds  and 
other  forms  of  life  pertaining  to  our  old  home  lands  in  Europe,  but  not 
to  those  of  America.  People  of  our  race  have  been  inhabitants  of 
America  now  for  three  centuries,  and  still  we  have  not  made  ourselves 
at  home  here;  we  have  not  formed  sentimental  attachment  to  the  land  and 
to  its  native  forms  of  life. 

It  is  a  pity  for  a  people  not  to  be  so  attached  to  the  country  in  which 
they  live  that  their  sentiments  shall  be  first  of  all  for  the  forms  of  life 

[10] 


that  are  native  to  their  own  country.  Otherwise  there  is  a  disharmony 
whith  lessens  happiness  and  is  harmful  in  many  ways. 

Lacking  friendly  feeling  for  the  plants  and  animals  native  to  Amer- 
ica there  has  been  a  tendency  to  destroy  these  things  in  a  ruthless  man- 
ner; and  this  can  hardly  be  prevented  by  law  unless  we  can  awaken 
sentimental  feelings  for  the  native  forms  of  life  in  America  such  as  that 
which  our  ancestors  had  for  forms  of  life  native  in  Europe. 

Indians,  the  native  Americans,  have  friendly  sentiments,  and  even 
feelings  of  reverence  for  the  forms  of  life  native  to  America. 

I  once  asked  an  old  Omaha  what  was  the  feeling  of  Indians  when 
they  saw  the  white  men  wantonly  killing  buffaloes.  As  soon  as  he  com- 
prehended my  question  he  dropped  his  head  and  was  silent  for  a  moment, 
seeming  to  be  overcome  by  sadness;  and  then  in  a  tone  as  though  he 
were  ashamed  that  such  a  thing  could  have  been  done  by  human  beings, 
he  answered:  "It  seemed  to  us  a  most  wicked,  awful  thing." 

Most  white  men  can  not  comprehend  the  sense  of  pain  experienced 
by  Indians  at  seeing  the  native  forms  of  life  in  America  ruthlessly  and 
wantonly  destroyed  with  no  compunction  on  the  part  of  the  destroyers. 
And  this  destruction  of  the  forms  of  native  American  life  by  white  peo- 
ple gave  to  Indians  a  sense  of  a  fearful  void  in  nature,  coupled  with  a 
feeling  of  grief,  of  horror,  of  distress  and  pain.  It  was  not  funda- 
mentally the  thought  of  the  loss  of  their  food  supply,  but  the  contem- 
plation of  the  dislocation  of  the  nice  balance  of  nature,  the  destruction  of 
world  symmetry. 

White  Horse,  an  old  man  of  the  Omaha  tribe  in  Nebraska,  said  to  me 
in  August,  1913:  "When  I  was  a  youth  the  country  was  beautiful.  Along 
the  rivers  were  belts  of  timberland,  where  grew  cottonwoods,  maples, 
elms,  oaks,  hickory  and  walnut  trees,  and  many  other  kinds.  Also  there 
were  various  vines  and  shrubs.  And  under  all  these  grew  many  good 
herbs  and  beautiful  flowering  plants.  On  the  prairie  was  the  waving 
green  grass  and  many  other  pleasant  plants.  In  both  the  woodland  and 
the  prairie  I  could  see  the  trails  of  many  kinds  of  animals  and  hear  the 
cheerful  songs  of  birds.  When  I  walked  abroad  I  could  see  many  forms 
of  life,  beautiful  living  creatures  of  many  kinds  which  the  Master  of 
Life  had  placed  here;  and  these  were,  after  their  manner  walking,  flying, 
leaping,  running,  feeding,  playing  all  about.  Now  the  face  of  all  the 
land  is  changed  and  sad.  The  living  creatures  are  gone.  I  see  the  land 
desolate,  and  I  suffer  unspeakable  sadness.  Sometimes  I  wake  in  the 
night  and  I  feel  as  though  I  should  suffocate  from  the  pressure  of  this 
awful  feeling  of  loneliness." 

Indians  generally  were  shrewd  and  discerning  observers  of  the  life 
and  habits  of  plants  and  animals.  The  careful  study  of  plants  and  ani- 
mals was  a  considerble  part  of  the  courses  of  study  in  their  system  of 
education,  which  included  much  more  than  is  supposed  by  persons  who 
have  not  made  themselves  acquainted  with  Indian  life.  They  were  well 
informed  in  plant  and  animal  ecology,  and  in  knowledge  of  range  of 
species.  They  took  cognizance  of  the  habits  of  animals  in  the  animals' 
dwelling  places.  An  old  Indian  once  told  me  how  a  muskrat  lays  up 
stores  of  food  in  his  house.    He  compared  the  appearance  of  the  musk- 

[11] 


rat's  stores  to  that  of  a  grocer's  goods  on  the  shelves  of  his  store.  Many- 
old  Indians  have  told  me  what  kinds  of  food  are  stored  by  different 
species  of  animals  which  lay  up  stores.  They  often  speak  of  such  ani- 
mals as  lay  up  food  stores  as  being  civilized  animal  nations,  and  of  those 
which  do  not  make  such  provision  as  being  uncivilized. 

They  attribute  great  wisdom  to  certain  species  of  animals.  This  dis- 
position results  from  discerning  observation  of  the  animals'  works  and 
ways.  The  beaver  notably  is  reputed  to  be  very  wise  and  industrious. 
Indians  often  sought  to  gain  the  favor  and  learn  the  wisdom  of  various 
animal  species  by  endeavoring  to  place  themselves  en  rapport  with  the 
guardian  genius  of  the  species. 


INDIANS^  APPRECIATION  AND  LOVE  OF  THEIR 
HOMELAND 

In  the  rituals  of  the  various  tribes  may  be  found  numerous  expres- 
sions of  the  love  and  reverence  which  the  people  had  for  Holy  Mother 
Earth  in  general  and  for  their  own  homeland  in  particular.  And  in 
their  thought  of  their  homeland  they  did  not  regard  it  as  a  possession 
which  they  owned,  but  they  regarded  themselves  as  possessed  by  their 
homeland,  their  country,  and  that  they  owed  her  love  and  service  and 
reverence.  The  following  song  is  found  in  an  ancient  ritual  of  the 
Pawnee  nation  which  is  given  entire  in  the  Twenty-second  Annual  Re- 
port of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Part  2.  This  song  plainly 
reflects  the  topography  and  the  scenery  of  the  country  of  the  Pawnee 
nation,  that  part  of  the  Great  Plains  traversed  by  the  Solomon,  Repub- 
lican, Platte,  Loup,  and  Niobrara  rivers. 

SONG  TO  THE  TREES  AND  STREAMS 
I 
Dark  against  the  sky  yonder  distant  line 
Lies  before  us.    Trees  we  see,  long  the  line  of  trees, 
Bending,  swaying  in  the  breeze. 

II 
Bright  with  flashing  light  yonder  distant  line 
Runs  before  us,  swiftly  runs,  swift  the  river  runs. 
Winding,  flowing  o'er  the  land. 

Ill 
Hark!  0  hark!  A  sound,  yonder  distant  sound 
Comes  to  greet  us,  singing  comes,  soft  the  river's  song, 
Rippling  gently  'neath  the  trees. 

In  the  foregoing  song  one  can  hear  the  constant  murmur  of  the 
summer  southwind  as  it  blows  in  that  country  for  days,  and  see  the 
broad  stretch  of  the  great  level  land,  gently  undulating  in  places,  with 
its  eastward-flowing  streams  bordered  by  zones  of  trees,  the  timbered 
zones  along  the  stream  courses  being  the  only  forest  land  in  that  country. 


THRILLING  ESCAPE  OF  A  WAR  PARTY  OUTNUMBERED 
AND  SURROUNDED  BY  THEIR  ENEMIES 

A  Pdivnee  Story 
In  the  northwest  part  of  Nebraska  there  is  a  high  butte  with  per- 
pendicular sides   like   the  walls   of   a   great  building.     Because   of  the 

[12] 


shape  of  this  butte,  and  because  it  is  composed  mostly  of  a  soft  rock  or 
harS,  firm  clay,  it  is  called  Court-House  Rock  by  the  white  people.  Of 
course  it  has  other  names  among  the  Indian  tribes  of  that  region. 

This  great  butte  stands  out  boldly  upon  the  high  plain  and  can  be 
seen  for  many  miles  in  all  directions  overlooking  the  Platte  River.  The 
top  is  almost  flat  and  all  sides  but  one  are  almost  vertical,  and  are  bare 
of  vegetation,  worn  smooth  by  rain  and  by  wind,  impossible  to  climb.  But 
there  is  a  way  on  one  side  by  which  a  strong  man  can  make  his  way  to 
the  top. 

This  high  lonely  butte  stands  on  the  borderland  between  the  country 
of  the  Pawnees  and  the  country  of  the  Dakotas.  The  Dakotas  and  the 
Pawnees  were  almost  always  at  war  with  each  other.  Many  years  ago  a 
Pawnee  war  party  was  camped  near  this  butte  when  they  were  surprised 
by  a  war  party  of  Dakotas  stronger  in  numbers  than  their  own  party. 
In  the  fight  which  ensued  the  Pawnees  were  unable  to  drive  their  enemies 
off,  but  were  compelled  to  take  refuge  by  climbing  to  the  top  of  the 
butte.  The  Dakotas  were  unable  to  follow  the  Pawnees  upon  the  butte, 
for  the  Pawnees  were  able  to  guard  the  single  narrow  path.  But  neither 
could  the  Pawnees  escape  again  upon  the  open  plain  for  the  Dakotas  se- 
curely guarded  the  descent  and  could  easily  kill  one  after  another  all  who 
might  attempt  to  come  down  that  way.  So  it  seemed  only  a  question 
of  time  before  all  the  Pawnees  must  die  of  hunger  and  thirst  upon  the  top 
of  the  rock,  or  come  down  and  give  themselves  up  to  death  at  the  hands 
of  their  enemies.  The  camps  of  the  Dakotas  surrounded  the  butte,  lay- 
ing siege  to  it  to  starve  the  Pawnees  out. 

The  Pawnees  were  in  a  woeful  plight.  As  the  sun  rose  and  traveled 
across  the  sky  they  could  look  away  for  miles  and  perhaps  see  flocks  of 
antelopes  grazing  upon  the  plain,  while  their  own  stomachs  were  pinched 
with  hunger;  and  some  miles  to  the  south  they  could  see  the  flashing  sun. 
light  gleaming  upon  the  waters  of  the  Platte  River,  while  close  at  hand, 
at  the  foot  of  the  butte,  they  could  see  their  enemies  eating  and  drink- 
ing, which  could  but  serve  to  aggravate  their  own  hunger  and  thirst.  And 
at  night  when  the  scorching  sun  had  sunk  in  the  west  they  might  look 
away  to  the  eastward,  in  which  direction  their  homes  lay  many  days' 
march  distant  in  the  beautiful  and  fruitful  valley  of  the  Loup  River;  and 
as  they  looked  the  twinkling  stars  appearing  one  by  one  near  the  eastern 
horizon  must  have  made  them  think  of  the  evening  camp  fires  of  their 
home  people.  And  at  night  the  grim  chill  of  the  rare  air  of  the  high 
butte  gripped  their  bodies  in  its  clutch.  And  all  the  while  they  must 
be  very  vigilant  against  their  enemies  to  prevent  being  overtaken.  They 
all  suffered  severely,  but  the  captain  of  the  company  suffered  most  of  all; 
for  added  to  the  bodily  sufferings  which  he  endured  in  common  with  his 
men,  he  also  suffered  extreme  mental  anguish,  for  he  felt  his  responsibil- 
ity on  account  of  his  men.  Because  they  had  trusted  his  leadership  and 
had  put  themselves  under  his  orders  it  seemed  that  now  they  must  all 
die  a  horrible  death.  For  himself  he  dreaded  not  death  so  much  as  to  be 
the  cause  of  the  loss  of  his  brave  men.  To  him  this  was  far  more  bitter 
than  death.     In  the  night-time  he  would  go  away  from  the  others  and 

ri3] 


cry  out  in  fervent  prayer  to  Tirawa,  begging  His  help,  begging  that  He 
would  show  him  some  way  to  save  his  men  and  bring  them  off  safe. 

And  while  he  was  thus  praying,  he  heard  a  voice  saying,  "Look  care- 
fully and  see  if  you  can  find  a  place  where  you  shall  be  able  to  climb 
down  from  this  rock  and  save  your  men  and  yourself."  So  he  prayed 
earnestly  all  night,  and  when  daylight  came  he  went  along  the  edges  of 
the  butte  looking  carefully  to  see  if  there  might  be  a  place  where  some 
way  might  be  found  by  which  to  go  down.  At  last  he  found  a  jutting 
point  of  rock  near  the  cliff  edge,  and  standing  above  the  level.  Below  this 
point  the  cliff  side  was  smooth  and  vertical.  It  occurred  to  him  that  this 
point  might  be  made  a  means  of  support  from  which  the  men  might  let 
themselves  down  the  face  of  the  cliff  by  a  rope.  When  night  came  again, 
after  he  had  posted  the  sentries  to  guard  the  place  of  ascent  from  the 
enemy,  he  returned  to  the  point  of  rock  and  with  his  knife  he  cut  away 
soft  weathered  rock  at  its  base  to  make  a  secure  place  of  fastening  for 
a  rope.  Then  he  gathered  secretly  all  the  lariats  which  the  company  had. 
These  he  tied  together  and  then,  tying  one  end  securely  to  the  rock  which 
he  had  prepared,  he  carefully  paid  out  the  rope  and  found  to  his  joy  that  it 
reached  the  ground  below.  He  made  a  loop  in  the  rope  for  his  foot  and 
then  he  let  himself  slowly  down  to  the  ground,  then  he  climbed  back 
again.  When  night  came  again  he  posted  his  sentries  so  that  the  enemy 
might  see  them  at  their  posts  on  the  side  of  the  butte  above  the  path, 
but  when  darkness  had  fully  come  they  were  all  gradually  withdrawn. 
Quietly  calling  his  men  about  him  he  explained  his  plan  and  told  them 
how  they  might  all  save  themselves.  He  sent  his  men  down  by  the  rope, 
one  after  another,  beginning  with  the  youngest  and  least  important  of 
the  company,  and  so  on  up  to  the  men  of  most  importance.  Last  of  all 
the  captain  of  the  company  himself  came  down.  He  and  all  his  men 
crept  quietly  in  the  darkness  through  the  Dakota  lines  and  escaped  safely. 
The  Dakotas  directed  their  vigilance  mainly  toward  the  other  side  of  the 
butte  where  lay  the  only  path,  and  that  a  very  rugged  one,  between  the 
base  and  the  summit. 

The  Pawnees  never  knew  how  long  the  Dakotas  kept  watch  about  the 
rock. 


A  MANDAN  MONUMENT  IN  COMMEMORATION  OF  AN 
ACT  OF  HEROISM 

It  is  a  common  instinct  among  all  nations  of  the  human  race  to 
preserve  relics  and  record  memorials  of  notable  persons  and  events. 
Such  monuments  vary  with  the  different  means  and  materials  at  hand. 
Sometimes  mounds  of  earth,  sometimes  boulders,  sometimes  cairns  of 
stones,  sometimes  hevm  stones,  and  various  other  devices  have  been  used 
according  to  circumstances. 

There  exists  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  a  Mandan  hero  which 
has  never  before  been  described  and  published.  The  following  account 
is  from  information  given  by  several  persons  of  the  Mandan,  Hidatsa 
and  Arikara  tribes.  The  location  of  the  monument  is  near  the  site  of 
"Fish-hook  Village"  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri  River  some  twelve 
or  fifteen  miles  east  of  Elbowoods,  North  Dakota. 

[14] 


During  the  middle  part  of  the  19th  century  the  three  tribes,  Arikara, 
Htdatsa  and  Mandan,  lived  together  in  alliance  against  their  common 
enemies.  Their  chief  enemies  were  the  Dakota.  So  these  three  tribes 
built  their  three  villages  adjoining,  making  one  compound  village  of  three 
wards.  The  village  lay  upon  a  well-drained  terrace  of  the  Missouri  River, 
while  their  farms  were  laid  out  in  the  fertile  alluvial  "bottom"  along  the 
river  both  above  and  below  the  village.  To  the  north  of  the  village  site 
lies  a  range  of  hills. 

The  enemy  many  times  made  raids  upon  the  village.  They  would 
approach  under  cover  of  the  hills  to  the  north  and  then  steal  close  upon 
the  village  through  the  course  of  a  ravine  which  skirted  the  northeast 
and  north  sides  of  the  village. 

About  sixty-six  years  ago  such  an  attack  was  made  by  a  war  party 
of  Dakota.  Of  the  defenders  of  the  village,  two  young  Mandans,  brothers, 
named  Lefthand  and  Redleaf,  had  been  dismounted  and  their  retreat 
cut  off  by  the  enemy.  A  brother  of  these  two,  Whitecrow  by  name,  saw 
the  danger  of  Lefthand  and  Redleaf  and  rode  out  to  their  assistance. 
Lefthand  was  killed  and  Redleaf  was  defending  the  body  from  a  Dakota 
who  was  trying  to  take  the  scalp.  Redleaf  shot  at  the  Dakota  and  missed 
him,  the  bullet  going  over  the  enemy's  head  and  striking  into  the  ground 
beyond  him,  the  enemy  being  crouched  low  at  the  time  of  the  shot. 
Whitecrcw  rode  in  a  circuit  beyond  these  combatants  and  held  off  the 
attacking  party  of  the  enemy.  He  killed  the  Dakota  who  was  engaged 
in  combat  with  his  brother  Redleaf.  Then  Whitecrow  picked  up  Red- 
leaf  upon  the  horse  with  himself  and  carried  him  safely  back  to  the 
village. 

After  the  enemy  had  been  driven  away  the  Mandans  went  out  and 
marked  the  course  in  which  Whitecrow  had  ridden  to  his  brother's  rescue, 
the  spot  where  Lefthand  had  been  killed,  the  spot  where  Redleaf  had 
made  his  stand,  the  spot  where  the  Dakota  was  killed,  and  the  spot 
where  Redleaf's  bullet  fired  at  the  Dakota,  had  struck  the  ground.  The 
method  used  for  marking  these  places  was  by  removal  of  the  sod  leaving 
holes  in  the  ground.  To  mark  the  course  of  Whitecrow's  horse  the  sod 
was  removed  in  horse-track  shaped  sections  consecutively  from  the  point 
of  advance  from  the  village  round  the  place  of  combat  and  returning  to 
the  village.  The  horse-track  marks  were  made  about  two  feet  in 
diameter.  All  these  marks  commemorating  the  entire  action,  which  took 
place  about  the  year  1853  are  still  plainly  evident,  being  renewed  when- 
ever they  tend  to  become  obliterated  by  weathering  and  by  advancing 
vegetation. 

THE  LEGEND  OF  STANDING  ROCK 

This  story  of  Standing  Rock  is  a  legend  of  the  Arikara  who  once  had 
their  villages  along  the  Missouri  River  between  the  Grand  River  and  the 
Cannonball  River.  Afterwards,  being  harrassed  by  hostile  incursions  of 
the  Dakotas  they  abandoned  this  country  to  their  enemies  and  moved 
farther  up  the  Missouri  River,  joining  themselves  in  alliance  with  the 
Mandans. 

One  time  there  was  a  young  girl  in  this  tribe  who  was  beautiful  and 
amiable  but  not  given  to  heedless,  chattering,  idle  amusement.     She  was 

[15] 


thoughtful  and  earnest  and  conversant  with  the  ways  of  all  the  living^ 
creatures,  the  birds  and  the  small  mammals,  and  the  trees  and  shrubs- 
and  flowers  of  the  woodlands  and  of  the  prairies.  She  was  in  the  habit 
of  going  to  walk  by  herself  to  visit  and  commune  with  all  these  living 
creatures.  She  understood  them  better  than  most  other  people  did,  and 
they  all  were  her  friends. 

When  she  became  of  marriageable  age  she  had  many  suitors,  for 
she  was  beautiful  and  lovely  in  disposition.  But  to  the  young  men  who 
wooed  her  she  answered,  *'I  do  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to  marry  any  one. 
I  am  at  home  with  the  bird  people,  the  four-footed  people  of  the  woods; 
and  prairies,  with  the  people  of  the  flower  nations  and  the  trees.  I 
love  to  work  in  the  cornfields  in  summer,  and  the  sacred  squash  blossoms 
are  my  dear  companions." 

Finally  her  grandmother  reasoned  with  her  and  told  her  that  it 
was  her  duty  to  marry  and  to  rear  children  to  maintain  the  strength  of 
the  tribe.  Because  of  filial  duty  she  finally  said,  when  her  grand- 
mother continued  to  urge  her  to  marry  a  certain  young  man  of  estimable 
worth  who  desired  her  for  his  wife,  "Well  grandmother,  I  will  obey  you,, 
but  I  tell  you  that  good  will  not  come  of  it.  I  am  not  as  others  are,  and 
Mother  Nature  did  not  intend  me  for  marriage." 

So  she  was  married  and  went  to  the  house  already  prepared  for  her 
by  her  husband.  But  three  days  later  she  came  back  to  her  mother's 
house,  appearing  sad  and  downcast.  She  sat  down  without  speaking. 
Finally  her  grandmother  said,  "What  is  it,  my  child?  Is  he  not  kind  to- 
you?"  The  girl  answered,  "Oh,  no,  he  is  not  unkind.  He  treated  me 
well."  And  with  that  she  sped  away  into  the  forest.  Her  grandmother 
followed  her  after  a  little  while,  thinking  that  out  among  her  beloved 
trees  and  plants  she  might  open  her  heart  and  tell  her  what  was  the 
trouble.  And  this  she  did,  explaining  all  the  trouble  to  her  grand- 
mother. And  she  concluded  her  talk  with  her  grandmother  with  these 
words,  saying:  "And  so  you  see,  grandmother,  it  is  as  I  said  when  you 
urged  me  to  marry.  I  was  not  intended  for  marriage.  And  now  my 
heart  is  so  sad.  I  should  not  have  married.  My  spirit  is  not  suited  to  the 
bounds  of  ordinary  human  living,  and  my  husband  is  not  to  be  blamed. 
He  is  honorable  and  kind.  But  I  must  go  away  and  be  with  the  children 
of  nature."  So  her  grandmother  left  her  there  where  she  was  sitting  by 
a  clump  of  choke-cherries,  having  her  sewing  kit  with  her  and  her  little 
dog  by  her  side. 

She  did  not  return  home  that  night,  so  the  next  morning  young  men 
were  sent  to  search  for  her.  At  last  she  was  found  sitting  upon  a  hill 
out  upon  the  prairie,  and  she  was  turned  to  stone  from  her  feet  to  her 
waist.  The  young  men  hastened  back  to  the  village  and  reported  to  the 
officers  who  had  sent  them  out. 

Then  the  people  were  summoned  by  the  herald  and  they  all  went 
out  to  the  place  where  the  young  woman  was.  Now  they  found  she 
had  become  stone  as  far  up  as  her  breasts. 

Then  the  priests  opened  the  sacred  bundle  and  took  the  sacred  pipe 
which  they  filled  and  lighted  and  presented  it  to  her  lips  so  that  thus 
she  and  they  in  turn  smoking  from  the  same  pipe  might  be  put  in  com- 

[16] 


munion  and  accord  with  the  spirit.  But  she  refused  the  pipe,  and  said, 
"Though  I  refuse  the  pipe  it  is  not  from  disloyalty  or  because  of  un- 
willingness to  be  at  one  with  my  people;  but  I  am  different  by  nature. 
And  you  shall  know  my  good  will  towards  my  people  and  my  love  and 
remembrance  of  them  always,  for  whoever  in  summer  time  places  by  this 
stone  a  wild  flower  or  a  twig  of  a  living  tree  in  winter  time  or  any  such 
token  of  living,  wonderful  Nature  at  any  time,  shall  be  glad  in  his  heart, 
and  shall  have  his  desire  to  be  in  communion  with  the  heart  of  Nature." 
And  as  she  said  these  words  she  turned  completely  into  stone,  and  her 
little  dog,  sitting  at  her  feet  and  leaning  close  against  her  v/as  also  turned 
into  stone  with  her.  And  this  stone  is  still  to  be  seen,  and  is  revered  by 
the  people.  It  is  from  this  stone  that  the  country  around  Fort  Yates, 
North  Dakota,  is  called  Standing  Rock. 


THE  HOLY  HILL  PAHUK 

Each  of  the  nations  and  tribes  of  Indians  had  certain  places  within 
its  own  domain  which  they  regarded  as  sacred,  and  to  which  they  accord- 
ingly paid  becoming  reverence.  These  places  were  sometimes  water- 
springs,  sometimes  peculiar  hills,  sometimes  caves,  sometimes  rocky 
precipices,  sometimes  dark,  wooded  bluffs.  Within  the  ancient  domain 
of  the  Pawnee  nation  in  Nebraska  and  northwest  Kansas  there  is  a  cycle 
of  five  such  sacred  places.  The  chief  one  of  these  five  mystic  places  is 
called  Pahuk  by  the  Pa^ATiee.  From  its  nature  it  is  unique,  being  dis- 
tinctly different  from  any  other  hill  in  all  the  Pawnee  country.  Pahuk 
stands  in  a  bend  of  the  Platte  River  where  the  stream  flows  from 
the  west  in  a  sweep  abruptly  turning  toward  the  southeast.  The  head 
of  the  hill  juts  out  into  the  course  of  the  river  like  a  promontory  or  head- 
land, which  is  the  literal  meaning  of  the  Pawnee  word  "pahuk."  The 
north  face  of  the  bluff  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  summit  is  heavily 
wooded.  Among  the  timber  are  many  cedar  trees,  so  that  in  winter, 
when  the  deciduous  trees  are  bare,  the  bluff  is  dark  with  the  mass  of 
evergreen  cedar.  The  cedar  is  a  sacred  tree,  so  its  presence  adds  mystery 
to  the  place.  The  Pawnee  sometimes  also  speak  of  this  hill  as  Nahura 
Waruksti,  which  means  Sacred  or  Mysterious  Animals.  This  allu- 
sion to  the  Sacred  or  Mysterious  Animals  has  reference  to  the  myth 
which  pertains  to  this  place. 

All  the  other  tribes  throughout  the  Great  Plains  region  also  knew 
of  the  veneration  in  which  this  hill  is  held  by  the  Pawnee,  so  they,  too, 
pay  it  great  respect,  and  many  individuals  of  the  other  tribes  have  per- 
sonally made  pilgrimages  to  this  holy  place.  The  people  of  the  Da- 
kota nation  call  it  Paha  Wakan,  "the  Holy  Hill." 

The  PaviTiee  speak  of  the  animal  world  collectively  as  Nahurak.  It 
was  believed  that  the  interrelations  of  all  living  beings,  plants,  animals 
and  human  beings,  are  essentially  harmonious,  and  that  all  species  take 
a  wholesome  interest  in  each  other's  welfare.  It  was  believed  also  that 
imder  certain  conditions  ability  was  given  to  different  orders  of  living 
creatures  to  communicate  with  men  for  man's  good. 

[17] 


The  before-mentioned  five  sacred  places  of  the  Pawnee  country- 
were  Nahurak  lodges.  Within  these  mystic  secret  places  the  animals, 
Nahurak,  held  council.  According  to  one  version  the  names  of  the  five 
Nahurak  lodges  are  Pahuk,  Nakiskat,  Tsuraspako,  Kitsawitsak,  and 
Pahua.  Pahuk  is  a  bluff  on  the  south  side  of  the  Platte  River,  a  few 
miles  west  of  the  city  of  Fremont,  Nebraska;  Nakiskat,  (Black  trees)  is 
an  island  in  the  Platte  River  near  Central  City,  Nebraska,  dark  with 
cedar  trees;  Tsuraspako  (Girl  Hill)  is  a  hill  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Platte  River  opposite  Grand  Island,  Nebraska.  It  is  called  Girl  Hill 
because  it  was  customary  when  a. buffalo  surround  was  made  in  its  vi- 
cinity for  the  young  girls  to  stay  upon  this  hill  during  the  surround.  The 
hill  is  said  to  be  in  the  fo"rm  of  an  earthlodge,  even  to  the  extended  ves- 
tibule. Kitsawitsak,  which  white  people  call  Wakonda  Springs,  is  not 
far  from  the  Solomon  River  near  Beloit,  Kansas.  The  name  Kitsawitsak 
means  "Water  on  the  bank."  Pahua  is  said  to  be  a  spring  near  the 
Republican  River  in  Nebraska.  Of  these  five  places  Pahuk  was  chief, 
and  the  Nahurak  councils  of  the  other  lodges  acknowledged  the  superior 
authority  of  the  council  at  Pahuk 

There  are  many  stories  of  the  wonderful  powers  resident  in  these 
sacred  places.  One  of  these  tells  of  the  restoration  to  life  of  a  boy  who  had 
been  killed.  The  story  is  that  a  certain  man  of  the  Skidi  tribe  of  the 
Pawnee  nation  desired  to  gain  the  favour  of  Tirawa  (Pawnee  name  of 
God).  He  thought  that  if  he  sacrificed  something  which  he  valued  most 
highly  that  Tirawa  might  grant  him  some  wonderful  gift.  There  were 
so  many  things  in  the  world  which  he  did  not  understand,  and  which 
he  wished  very  much  to  know.  He  hoped  that  Tirawa  might  grant  him 
revelations,  that  he  might  know  and  understand  many  things  which 
were  hidden  from  the  people.  He  strongly  desired  knowledge,  and  he 
thought  that  if  he  sacrificed  his  young  son,  who  was  dear  to  him,  and 
the  pride  of  his  heart,  that  Tirawa  might  take  pity  on  him  and  grant  him 
his  desire.  He  felt  very  sad  to  think  of  killing  his  son,  and  he  meditated 
a  long  time  upon  the  matter.  Finally  he  was  convinced  in  his  own  mind 
that  Tirawa  would  be  pleased  with  his  sacrifice,  and  that  then  the  good 
gifts  he  desired  would  be  given  to  him,  and  that  many  things  now  dark 
to  his  understanding  would  be  made  clear,  and  that  he  should  have  abil- 
ity given  him  to  do  many  things  which  were  now  beyond  his  power. 

One  day  this  man  took  his  boy  with  him  and  walked  out  from  the 
village  as  though  on  some  errand.  They  walked  to  the  Platte  River. 
After  they  had  gone  a  long  distance  from  the  village,  as  they  were  walk- 
ing by  the  riverside,  no  other  persons  being  near,  the  man  drew  out  his 
knife  and  stabbed  the  boy  so  that  he  was  quickly  dead.  The  man  then 
dropped  the  body  of  the  dead  boy  over  the  bank.  After  a  time  he  re- 
turned to  the  village,  and  went  into  his  own  lodge  and  sat  down.  After 
a  while  he  asked  his  wife  "Where  is  the  boy?"  She  said  "Why,  he  went 
out  with  you."  The  man  said  "I  was  out  of  the  village,  but  the  boy  was 
not  with  me." 

He  went  out  and  Inquired  of  his  neighbors,  and  then  all  through  the 
village,  but  of  course  the  boy  could  not  be  found.  Then  for  some  days  a 
general  search  was  made  for  the  boy,  but  no  trace  of  him  was  found. 

[18] 


After  this  the  family  mourned  for  the  lost  boy.  It  was  now  time  for 
the;,  summer  buffalo  hunt,  so  in  a  few  days  the  people  set  out  for  the 
buffalo  grounds,  and  the  father  and  mother  of  the  boy  also  went. 

After  the  boy's  body  was  dropped  into  the  river  it  was  carried  away 
downstream  by  the  current,  sometimes  being  rolled  along  in  shallow 
water  at  the  edge  of  "sandbars  and  again  it  would  be  turned  over  and 
over  in  the  whirlpool  of  some  deep  hole  in  the  channel,  for  the  Platte 
River  is  a  peculiar  stream,  having  a  swift  current  but  a  wide  course  with 
deep  holes  and  many  sandbars. 

After  a  time  the  body  floated  down  nearly  to  Pahuk.  Two  buzzards 
were  sitting  on  the  edge  of  a  bluff,  gazing  over  the  water.  So,  sitting 
there,  one  of  the  buzzards  stretched  out  his  neck  and  looked  up  the  river. 
He  thought  he  saw  something  in  the  water  floating  downstream.  He 
stretched  his  neck  again  and  looked,  and  turned  to  the  other  buzzard  and 
said  "I  see  a  body."  Then  they  both  looked  towards  the  object  in  the 
water,  stretching  out  their  necks  and  gazing  intently.  They  saw  that  the 
object  was  the  body  of  the  boy.  The  first  one  said  "What  shall  we  do 
about  this?"  The  second  one  said  "Let  us  carry  the  body  down  to 
Pahuk,  to  the  hill  where  Nahurak  Waruksti  is."  So  they  both  flew 
down  to  the  floating  body  and  got  under  it  and  lifted  it  upon  their 
backs  and  carried  it  to  the  top  of  the  bluff  called  Pahuk,  over  the  secret 
cave  of  the  Nahurak  Waruksti,  and  there  they  placed  it  upon  the  ground. 
Then  the  two  buzzards  stood  quietly  gazing  upon  the  body  of  the  boy 
where  they  had  laid  it  dovm  upon  the  ground. 

This  cave  far  under  the  hill  was  the  council  lodge  of  the  animals. 
There  sat  the  councilmen  of  all  kinds  of  animals  and  birds,  great  and 
small,  which  were  native  to  that  country.  There  were  the  buffalo,  the 
beaver,  elk,  deer,  antelope,  otter,  muskrat,  wolf,  bear,  fox,  wildcat, 
badger,  bean  mice,  and  many  other  kinds  of  animals.  And  there  were 
the  swan,  the  loon,  goose,  duck,  wild  turkey,  prairie  chicken,  quail,  heron, 
bittern,  crane,  plover,  kildeer,  meadowlark,  blackbird,  owls,  hawks,  swal- 
lows, crow,  chickadee,  woodpeckers,  grackle,  purple  martin,  and  many 
other  kinds  of  birds.  There  were  also  snakes,  turtles,  toads  and  frogs. 
These  were  the  Nahurak  people,  the  Nahurak  Waruksti,  the  Sacred  Ani- 
mals. And  the  kingfisher  was  a  messenger  and  errand  man  for  the 
Nahurak  council. 

Now  it  happened  when  the  buzzards  brought  the  body  of  the  young 
man  and  laid  it  down  on  the  top  of  Pahuk,  the  kingfisher,  who  was 
flying  about  over  the  river  on  business  for  the  Nahurak,  was  flying  by. 
He  stopped  and  looked  at  the  body.  He  already  knew  all  that  had  hap- 
pened, and  he  was  moved  with  compassion  for  the  boy.  So  he  flew  down 
at  once  to  the  water  at  the  foot  of  Pahuk  and  dived  in  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Nahurak  lodge.  He  spoke  to  the  assembly  of  the  Nahurak  and  told 
them  all  that  had  happened,  and  said  in  conclusion,  "And  the  poor  boy 
is  up  there  on  the  hill.  I  hope  you  will  have  pity  on  him  and  will  do 
what  you  can  for  him.  I  wish  you  would  bring  him  to  life  again." 
When  the  kingfisher,  the  messenger,  had  finished  speaking  the  Nahurak 
held  serious  council  on  the  matter  to  decide  what  they  should  do.  But 
%fter  they  had  meditated  long  on  the  question,  and  each  had  spoken,  they 
still  could  not  decide  the  matter.     The  kingfisher  urged  the  matter,  ask- 

[19] 


ing  for  a  favourable  decision,  saying,  "Come,  do  take  pity  on  him  and 
restore  him  to  life."  But  they  could  not  come  to  a  decision.  At  last  the 
chief  of  the  council  said,  "No,  messenger,  we  are  unable  to  decide  now. 
You  must  go  to  the  other  Nahurak  lodges  and  find  out  what  they  have 
to  say  about  it."  The  kingfisher  said  "I  go,"  and  flew  swiftly  out  from 
the  lodge  and  up  the  river  to  Nakiskat,  the  Nahurak  lodge  near  Lone 
Tree.  There  he  brought  the  matter  before  the  council  and  pleaded  for 
the  boy  as  he  had  done  at  Pahuk,  and  told  them  that  he  was  sent  from 
Pahuk  to  ask  the  council  at  Nakiskat  for  their  decision.  So  the  Nahurak 
here  at  Nakiskat  talked  over  the  matter,  but  at  last  they  said  to  the 
kingfisher  "We  are  unable  to  decide.  We  leave  it  to  the  council  at 
Pahuk." 

Then  the  kingfisher  flew  to  the  lodge  at  Tsuraspako,  then  to  Kit- 
sawitsak,  and  at  last  to  Pahua,  and  at  each  place  the  Nahurak  council 
considered  the  matter  carefully  and  talked  about  it,  but  at  each  place  the 
same  answer  was  given.  They  all  said  "It  is  too  much  for  us.  We  can- 
not decide  what  should  be  done.  It  is  for  the  council  at  Pahuk  to  de- 
cide." 

After  the  messenger  had  visited  all  these  lodges  and  had  laid  the 
matter  before  all  of  them,  receiving  from  each  the  same  answer,  he  flew 
as  swiftly  as  he  could  back  to  the  lodge  at  Pahuk  and  reported  what  the 
other  lodges  had  said.  They  all  recognized  the  council  at  Pahuk  as  the 
head  council,  and  deferred  the  matter  to  them  for  decision.  But  it  had 
already  been  once  considered  by  this  council,  so  the  matter  was  now 
brought  before  the  supreme  council  of  Pahuk.  This  was  a  council  of 
four  chiefs  of  the  Pahuk  council  who  sat  as  judges  to  give  final  consid- 
eration and  decision.  These  judges  now  reconsidered  the  matter,  and 
finally,  when  they  had  talked  it  over,  they  said  to  the  kingfisher,  "Now, 
messenger,  we  will  not  decide  this  question,  but  will  leave  it  to  you. 
You  shall  make  the  decision." 

The  kingfisher  very  quickly  gave  his  decision.  He  said  "It  is  my 
desire  that  this  poor  boy  be  restored  to  life.  I  hope  you  will  all  have 
pity  on  him  and  do  what  you  can  for  him." 

Then  all  the  Nahurak  arose  and  went  out  from  the  council  lodge  and 
went  up  to  the  top  of  Pahuk  where  the  body  of  the  boy  lay.  They  formed 
in  order  and  stood  around  the  boy  and  prayed  to  the  Higher  Powers,  and 
at  last  the  boy  drew  breath,  then  after  a  time  he  breathed  again,  then 
his  breath  began  to  be  regular.  Finally  he  opened  his  eyes  and  sat  up 
and  looked  around  in  a  confused  manner.  When  he  saw  all  the  animals 
standing  around  him  he  was  puzzled  and  bewildered.  He  said  to  himself, 
"Why,  my  father  killed  me  by  the  riverside,  but  here  I  am  in  the  midst 
of  this  multitude  of  animals.    What  does  it  mean?" 

Then  the  head  chief  of  the  Nahurak  council  spoke  to  him  kindly 
and  reassured  him.  He  was  asked  to  rise  and  go  with  the  animals  into 
the  council  lodge.  When  all  had  gone  in  and  were  seated  the  four  judges 
conferred  together,  then  the  chief  of  the  four  stood  up  and  said,  "My 
people,  we  have  restored  this  boy  to  life,  but  he  is  poor  and  forlorn  and 
needy.    Let  us  do  something  for  him.    Let  us  teach  him  all  we  know,  and 

[20] 


impart  to  him  our  mysterious  powers."    The  Nahurak  were  all  pleased  at 
tMs  proposal  and  manifested  their  approval. 

Then  the  Nahurak  showed  hospitality  and  kind  attention  to  the  poor 
boy  as  their  guest.  He  was  shown  a  place  to  bathe  and  rest.  When  he 
had  rested,  food  was  brought  to  him.  So  he  was  entertained  and  treated 
kindly  for  the  full  season,  and  he  was  instructed  by  all  the  animals  in 
turn  and  they  taught  him  their  secret  arts  of  healing  and  imparted  to 
him  all  their  wonderful  powers.  So  he  remained  with  them  at  Pahuk  till 
autumn. 

Autumn  is  a  beautiful  season  at  Pahuk,  and  in  all  the  region  of  the 
Platte,  the  Loup,  the  Republican,  and  the  Solomon  rivers  in  Nebraska 
and  Kansas  embraced  by  the  cycle  of  the  five  Nahurak  lodges.  At  that 
season  in  that  country  the  sun  casts  a  mellow  golden  light  from  the  sky, 
while  the  land  is  emblazed  with  the  brilliance  of  the  sunflowers  and  gold- 
enrod.    And  then  the  air  is  quiet  and  restful. 

So  one  day  at  this  season  the  Nahurak  said  to  the  boy,  "It  is  now 
the  time  when  the  swallows,  the  blackbirds,  the  meadowlarks,  and  other 
kinds  of  birds  will  be  gathering  into  flocks  to  fly  away  to  the  southland 
for  the  winter.  The  beavers  are  cutting  trees  and  saplings  to  store  the 
branches  under  water  for  their  winter  food  supply  of  bark;  they  are  also 
gathering  into  their  houses  certain  kinds  of  roots  foT  food.  The  musk- 
rats  are  repairing  their  houses  and  are  storing  in  them  the  tubers  of 
the  water-lilies  and  of  the  arrow-leaf  and  of  other  kinds  of  plants  for 
their  winter  supply.  In  the  edge  of  the  timber,  where  the  ground  beans 
grow,  the  bean  mice  are  making  their  storehouses  and  filling  them  with 
ground  beans  and  artichokes.  And  your  people  have  returned  from  the 
buffalo  hunt  with  a  good  supply  of  dried  meat  and  hides.  They  are  now 
busy  at  home  gathering  and  storing  their  crops  of  com,  of  beans,  and  of 
squashes  and  pumpkins.  We  have  this  past  summer  instructed  you  in 
our  arts  of  healing  and  other  learning,  and  have  imparted  to  you  our 
mysterious  powers,  and  have  taught  you  about  our  ways  of  living.  You 
are  now  competent  to  use  for  the  good  of  your  people  the  remedies  and 
perform  the  mysteries  which  were  given  to  us  by  Tirawa,  and  which  we 
have  now  given  to  you.  So  you  may  now  return  to  the  village  of  your 
people.  Go  to  the  chiefs  of  the  village  and  tell  them  what  the  Nahurak 
have  done  for  you,  and  say  to  them  that  the  people  are  to  bring  together 
gifts  of  drief  buffalo  meat  and  dried  com  and  dried  choke-cherries,  and 
other  kinds  of  food;  of  robes  and  leggings  and  moccasins  embroidered 
with  porcupine  quills;  and  of  tobacco  for  incense.  All  these  things  the 
people  are  to  send  by  you  as  gifts  to  the  Nahurak  at  Pahuk  in  recognition 
of  the  favour  which  the  Nahurak  showed  to  you." 

So  the  boy  parted  from  his  animal  friends  at  Pahuk,  and  promised 
to  return  and  visit  them,  and  to  bring  them  presents  to  show  his  thank- 
fulness and  the  thankfulness  of  his  people  for  what  the  animals  had  done 
for  him.  He  traveled  on  up  the  Platte  River  and  reached  the  village  of 
his  people  in  the  night.  He  went  to  his  father's  house.  He  found  his 
father  and  mother  asleep  and  the  fire  had  burned  low.  There  was  only  a 
little  light  from  the  coals.  He  went  to  his  mother's  bed  and  touched  her 
shoulder  and  spoke  to  her  to  waken  her.    He  said  "It  is  I.    I  have  come 

[21] 


back."  When  his  mother  saw  him  and  heard  his  voice  she  was  surprised, 
but  she  was  glad-hearted  to  see  her  boy  again.  So  she  wakened  the  boy's 
father  and  told  him  the  boy  had  come  back.  When  the  father  saw  the 
boy  he  thought  it  must  be  his  ghost,  and  he  was  afraid.  But  the  boy  did 
not  mention  anything  that  had  happened  nor  say  where  he  had  been.  He 
said  only  "I  have  come  back  again." 

The  next  day  some  of  the  people  saw  him,  and  they  were  surprised. 
They  told  their  neighbors,  and  soon  it  was  rumored  all  over  the  village 
that  the  boy  had  returned.  They  came  where  he  was  and  stood  around 
and  looked  at  him  and  asked  him  questions,  but  he  told  them  nothing. 
But  he  went  to  the  chiefs  of  the  village  and  made  his  report  to  them. 
Afterwards  he  gave  account  to  the  people,  saying,  "I  have  been  away  all 
summer  with  friends,  with  people  who  have  been  very  good  to  me.  Now 
I  should  1-ke  to  take  them  a  present  of  dried  meat  and  other  good  things, 
so  that  we  can  have  a  feast.  I  beg  you  to  help  me,  my  friends."  So  they 
brought  together  a  quantity  of  the  articles  required,  and  they  chose  some 
young  men  to  go  with  him  to  help  carry  the  gifts  to  the  people  who  had 
befriended  him. 

So  the  boy  and  his  companions  went  on  the  way  towards  the  Nahurak 
lodge  at  Pahuk.  When  they  came  near  to  the  place  the  boy  dismissed 
the  young  men  who  had  accompanied  him,  and  they  went  back  to  the 
village.  Now  the  boy  went  on  alone  and  met  the  kingfisher,  the  messen- 
ger of  the  Nahurak,  and  sent  word  by  him  that  he  had  come  to  visit  the 
Nahurak,  and  had  brought  presents  from  his  people.  So  the  boy  was 
invited  into  the  lodge  and  all  the  Nahurak  made  sounds  of  gladness  at 
seeing  him  again.  The  boy  brought  in  the  presents  which  had  been  sent 
by  his  people  and  they  had  a  feast.  After  the  feast  they  held  a  doctors' 
ceremony.  They  reviewed  all  the  things  that  the  Nahurak  had  taught 
him  during  the  summer  that  he  had  spent  with  them.  Then  the  boy  was 
made  a  doctor,  and  he  was  now  able  to  do  many  wonderful  things. 

After  this  the  time  came  for  the  young  man  to  return  again  to  the 
village  of  his  people.  The  animals  were  thankful  and  gave  praise  to 
Tirawa  for  the  gifts  which  the  young  man  had  brought  to  them.  And  the 
young  man  was  thankful  to  the  animals  and  he  praised  Tirawa  for  what 
the  animals  had  done  for  him.  Then  he  returned  to  the  village  of  his 
people.    He  never  told  the  people  what  his  father  had  done  to  him. 

The  young  man  lived  a  long  and  useful  life  among  his  people  and 
attained  much  honour.  He  did  many  wonderful  things  for  his  people  and 
healed  them  of  their  diseases  and  injuries.  In  time  he  gathered  about  him 
a  group  of  other  young  men,  who,  like  himself,  were  of  serious  and 
thoughtful  mind,  and  who  had  desire  toward  the  welfare  of  the  people. 
These  young  men  became  his  disciples,  and  to  them  he  taught  the  mys- 
teries which  had  been  imparted  to  him  by  the  animals  of  the  lodge  at 
Pahuk.  These  wise  men  in  turn  taught  other  worthy  inquirers,  and  these 
again  others;  and  so  these  mysteries  and  learning  and  the  healing  arts 
have  come  down  from  that  long-ago  time  to  the  present  among  the 
Pawnee  people. 

[22] 


THE  LODGE  OF  THE  BLACK-TAIL  DEER  WHICH 
TALKED  WITH  ITS  CAPTOR 

North  Dakota  has  a  number  of  places  to  which  attach  interesting 
legends  and  myths.  One  such  place  is  a  butte  not  far  from  Schmitt  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Missouri  River  on  the  road  between  Mandan  and 
Cannon  Ball.    It  is  west  of  Eagle-beak  Butte. 

The  story  of  this  butte  is  a  Mandan  myth.  A  long  time  ago  the  Man- 
dans  lived  in  a  village  which  was  on  a  level  place  just  north  of  the  Bad 
Water  Creek,  which  white  people  call  Little  Heart  River.  At  the  west 
of  this  place  there  is  a  range  of  high  hills.  The  Mandans  lived  at  the 
Bad  Water  Village  in  the  time  long  before  white  men  had  come  across 
the  great  water,  so  there  were  no  horses  in  the  country.  The  people  had 
no  animals  except  dogs  to  help  them  carry  their  burdens.  And  of  course 
they  had  never  heard  of  the  thunder-irons  (guns)  which  strike  and  kill 
the  deer  and  other  game  at  long  distance.  So  it  was  hard  work  to  ob- 
tain their  supplies  of  meat  and  to  carry  the  same  home  to  their  houses. 
A  man  who  lived  in  the  Bad  Water  village  had  dug  a  deer  pit  in  a 
place  among  the  hills  west  of  the  village  and  cunningly  covered  it  over  to 
appear  not  different  from  the  ground  about  it.  By  this  means  he  hoped 
to  capture  a  deer  whose  flesh  would  be  food  for  his  family,  and  whose 
skin  would  be  useful  for  making  clothing;  whose  sinew  would  be  used 
for  thread,  some  of  its  bones  to  be  used  for  making  awls  and  needles, 
others  for  other  useful  implements  and  tools.  Its  horns  would  be  used 
to  make  garden  rakes  for  working  the  ground  of  his  family's  garden. 

One  morning  in  autumn  there  had  been  a  snowfall  during  the  pre- 
ceding night,  the  first  snowfall  of  the  season.  The  man  went  out  early 
in  the  morning  into  the  hills  to  look  at  his  trap  to  see  if  it  might  have 
caught  something  during  the  night.  As  he  approached  the  place  he  saw 
that  the  cover  was  broken  through,  and  when  he  came  near  and  looked  in 
he  was  rejoiced  to  see  that  he  had  captured  a  fine  large  black-tail  deer. 

Now  when  he  came  to  the  edge  of  the  pit  and  looked  down  at  his 
prize  the  deer  looked  up  at  him  and  spoke  to  him,  saying,  "0,  man,  do 
not  kill  me,  but  let  me  go  free  from  the  pit.  If  you  release  me  you  will 
do  well."  The  man  was  surprised  to  hear  the  deer  speak  to  him  like 
a  man,  and  he  was  disappointed  to  think  of  losing  his  prize.  But  he 
thought  to  himself,  "This  is  something  mysterious,  I  must  give  heed;  I 
must  not  defy  the  Mysterious  Power,  but  listen  to  the  message;  for  it 
must  be  that  some  Mysterious  Power  wishes  to  impart  something  to  me 
through  this  animal  as  its  messenger."  So  as  he  thus  hesitated  in  doubt 
the  deer  again  made  its  plea  and  requested  to  be  set  free.  But  the  man 
spoke  of  his  duty  to  his  family,  who  looked  to  him  for  food  and  foi* 
clothing.  Again  the  deer  spoke  and  said,  "Indeed  you  do  well  to  think  of 
your  family,  and  your  endeavor  to  provide  for  them  as  well  as  you  can 
is  prompted  both  by  your  love  and  duty.  But  I  say  to  you  that  you  would 
do  well  if  you  allow  me  to  go.  If  you  do  so,  I  promise  you  that  you 
will  have  success  in  hunting;  you  shall  find  game  abundant  for  the  needs 
of  yourself  and  family.  And  when  war  comes  upon  your  people  you 
shall  be  victorious  over  the  enemy.  So  shall  you  be  remembered  among 
your  people  for  bravery." 

[23] 


The  man  gave  heed  to  what  the  deer  said  to  him,  and  he  dared  not 
disobey  the  message  which  had  come  to  him  in  this  mysterious  way. 
So  now  he  began  to  dig  down  the  side  of  the  pit  so  that  the  deer  could 
come  out.  When  he  had  finished  he  said  to  the  deer,  "Now  you  may  go." 
Then  the  deer  came  up  the  incline  from  the  pit  and  ran  down  across  the 
Bad  Water  Creek  away  toward  the  Eagle  Beak  Hill.  As  he  ran  the  new 
fallen  snow  flew  behind  him  from  his  hoofs  in  a  white  cloud,  and  he  sang 
a  song: 

"1  was  glad  when  I  saw  the  first  snow, 
But  I  almost  lost  the  sight  of  day." 

The  man  watched  the  deer  as  it  ran  and  observed  that  when  it  ap- 
proached a  conical  butte  west  of  Eagle-beak  Butte  that  the  butte  opened 
with  a  loud  roaring  sound  and  the  deer  entered  and  he  saw  it  no  more,  and 
then  the  butte  closed  again  as  before. 

The  man  went  home  pondering  these  things  in  his  mind.  As  time 
passed  events  came  true  as  they  had  been  promised  to  him  in  the  mes- 
sage spoken  to  him  by  the  deer.  He  became  renowned  among  his  people 
for  his  skill  and  success  in  the  chase,  for  his  generosity  to  the  old  people 
and  to  the  sick  and  poor,  and  he  attained  many  honors  for  his  deeds  of 
valour  in  warfare  against  the  enemies  of  his  people. 

Ever  since  that  time  the  Mandans  have  called  the  butte  into  which 
the  deer  disappeared  after  its  release  from  the  pit.  The  Lodge  of  the 
Black-tail  Deer. 


THE  WONDERFUL  BASKET 

A  Mandan  Story 

Indians  of  all  tribes  held  the  thought  of  the  brotherhood  of  all  living 
nature,  of  the  trees  and  flowers  and  grasses,  of  the  fishes  in  the  waters, 
of  the  living  things  which  creep  or  walk  or  run  on  the  land  and  of  the  birds 
which  fly  above  the  earth,  and  of  human  beings.  And  they  believed  that 
human  beings  often  gained  wisdom  and  useful  information  through 
dreams  and  visions  in  which  the  guardian  spirits  of  any  of  these  other 
living  creatures  talked  to  them,  revealing  to  chosen,  attentive  and  worthy 
persons,  secrets  of  nature  which  were  hidden  from  the  careless  and 
unworthy. 

Among  most  tribes  the  cedar  tree  is  considered  to  possess  a  property 
of  mystery  and  sacredness  For  this  reason  twigs  of  cedar  were  often 
burned  as  incense  in  a  sacred  fire  for  the  purpose  of  driving  away  evil 
Influences.  And  if  a  person  reclined  under  the  shelter  of  cedar  trees  the 
healing  power  and  strength  of  their  spirit  would  come  to  him  and  his  own 
spirit  would  thus  gain  composure  and  strength  to  meet  life's  troubles. 

Once  in  the  old  times  a  woman  was  resting  under  a  cedar  tree.  She 
was  weary  from  her  work,  and  as  the  gentle  wind  sighed  among  the 
thick  green  branches  above  her  she  dropped  to  sleep.  While  she  slept 
the  cedar  tree  spoke  to  her  in  a  soft  murmuring  voice,  and  the  woman 
gave  heed  to  the  words  of  the  cedar  tree. 

And  this  is  what  the  cedar  tree  said  to  the  woman:  "Sister,  if  you 
will  dig  down  into  the  earth  you  will  find  there  my  slender,  strong,  pliant 
roots.    Take  up  some  of  these  and  weave  them  into  a  basket.    You  shall 

[24] 


find  thereafter  that  some  good  shall  come  of  it.     It  shall  bring  good  to 
y6u  and  to  all  women." 

So  the  woman  did  as  she  was  told  by  the  cedar  tree.  She  took  up 
the  slender  roots  and  wove  of  them  a  basket.  The  basket  was  light  but 
strong,  and  so  pliant  that  it  could  be  rolled  into  a  small  bundle  when 
empty,  though  it  was  large  enough  to  hold  many  things  when  it  was 
opened  out. 

One  day  the  woman  took  the  basket  with  her  and  walked  far  out 
upon  the  prairie  where  tipsin  grew  in  abundance.  She  dug  a  quantity 
of  the  sweet  and  wholesome  roots  to  take  home  for  food  for  herself  and 
her  family.  The  tipsin  roots  grow  so  deep  in  the  tough  prairie  sod  that 
it  is  hard  work  to  dig  them,  so  when  she  had  filled  her  basket  she  was 
very  tired.  She  sat  down  to  rest  and  sighed  for  very  weariness,  and  the 
tears  came  to  her  eyes.  She  said,  "Alas!  now  I  must  carry  home  this 
heavy  load  although  I  am  already  weary  and  faint." 

Then  the  basket  whispered  to  her  "Do  not  cry.  Wipe  away  your 
tears;  bathe  your  hot  cheeks  with  water  at  the  brook;  be  glad,  for  I  am 
your  friend." 

Then  the  woman  wiped  away  her  tears  and  went  and  bathed  her 
cheeks  and  brushed  her  hair.  When  she  returned  the  basket  seemed  to 
smile.  It  said  to  her  "You  were  troubled  for  nothing.  You  forget  what 
the  cedar  tree  said  to  you  in  your  dreams.  You  were  told  that  good 
would  come  to  you  if  you  made  a  basket  as  you  were  instructed.  Now 
you  need  not  carry  your  load;  but  sing  and  bs  glad  and  walk  on  to  the 
village.    I  shall  come  with  you,  carrying  your  load." 

So  the  woman  went  on  her  way  home,  singing  from  happiness,  while 
the  basket  kept  by  her  side  carrying  the  load  of  tipsin  roots. 

As  she  came  near  the  village  the  women  knew  by  her  happy  singing 
voice  that  some  good  thing  had  happened  to  her.  Then  as  they  looked 
up  they  saw  her  coming,  and  with  her  was  coming  the  wonderful  basket 
carrying  the  load. 

Then  all  her  neighbors  begged  her  to  teach  them  how  to  make  a 
wonderful  basket.  So  she  taught  them  as  she  had  been  taught  by  the 
holy  cedar  tree  how  to  make  a  wonderful  basket  out  of  its  tiny  roots. 

And  so,  from  that  time,  whenever  a  woman  went  out  to  gather  June 
berries  or  wild  cherries,  or  raspberries,  or  wild  plums  or  pembinas  or 
tipsin,  or  wild  rice;  or  to  their  cultivated  fields  to  gather  corn  or  beans, 
she  was  not  obliged  to  carry  the  load  home.  When  she  was  ready  she 
started  towards  the  village  singing,  and  the  basket  came  with  her  cheer- 
fully carrying  the  burden. 

One  day,  long  after  this,  a  woman  had  found  the  winter  storehouse 
of  the  hintunka  people,  which  they  make  under-ground,  and  into  which 
they  gamer  their  store  of  food  for  the  winter  time.  The  hard-working 
hintunka  people  put  away  in  their  store-houses  quantities  of  wild  ground 
beans,  various  kinds  of  seeds  and  roots  and  tubers  to  provide  themselves 
food  for  the  cold  time  when  the  ground  is  frozen  and  the  earth  is  covered 
with  snow. 

It  happened  that  the  woman  who  found  this  store-house  of  the 
hintunka  people  was  one  who  was  not  considerate  of  the  rights  of  other 

[25] 


people.  She  thought  only  that  here  was  a  quantity  of  food  which  was 
desirable  and  easy  to  obtain.  So  she  filled  her  basket  with  the  wild 
ground  beans  which  are  so  delicious  when  cooked  with  bits  of  meat. 
She  cared  not  that  it  had  cost  the  hintunka  people  many  weary  hours  of 
hard  work  to  dig  these  beans  and  bring  them  together  in  this  place,  nor 
did  she  care  that  without  them  the  hintunka  people,  their  old  people  and 
their  little  ones,  all  would  be  left  destitute  of  food  and  must  perish  from 
famine. 

While  she  was  filling  her  basket  a  poor  little  hintunka  woman  cried 
pitifully  and  said,  "This  is  our  food.  We  have  worked  hard  for  it.  You 
ought  not  to  rob  us  of  it.  Without  it  we  shall  die  miserably  of  hunger. 
But  the  woman  took  the  beans  and  heeded  not  the  pitiful  crying  of  the 
hintunka  woman.  She  had  filled  her  basket,  and  was  making  ready  to  go 
home  but  there  was  no  song  in  her  heart. 

Then,  while  the  filled  basket  sat  there  waiting  a  coyote  standing  near 
by,  laughed.  At  this  the  basket  was  vexed,  and  said,  "You  are  rude. 
Why  do  you  laugh  at  me?"  But  the  coyote  only  laughed  all  the  more. 
This  annoyed  the  basket  greatly,  and  made  it  feel  very  uneasy  and  dis- 
tressed, for  it  knew  something  must  be  wrong.  And  it  said  to  the  coy- 
ote, "Do  tell  me  why  you  laugh.    What  is  it  which  is  strange?" 

Then  the  coyote  replied,  "I  laugh  because  you  are  so  foolish.  For  a 
long  time  you  have  been  carrying  burdens  to  the  village  while  the  women 
go  their  way  singing." 

But  the  basket  said,  "I  am  not  foolish,  I  have  the  good  spirit  of  the 
cedar  tree.  I  am  willing  to  carry  burdens  to  help  the  women.  I  am 
glad  when  I  hear  their  joyful  singing."  The  coyote  said,  "But  what  do 
you  get  for  it,  friend  ?  You  work  like  a  slave.  You  receive  nothing  for 
it.  No  one  offers  you  a  mouthful  of  food.  When  you  rest  for  a  time 
from  your  labor  you  are  not  covered  with  a  robe  made  beautiful  with 
quill-work.  When  you  have  carried  burdens  for  a  woman  she  merely 
hangs  you  upon  a  peg  on  the  wall  till  the  next  time  she  wishes  you  to 
carry  something  for  her." 

As  the  basket  considered  the  things  which  the  coyote  said  it  began 
to  be  discontented.  It  felt  that  it  had  been  treated  unfairly;  that  it  had 
no  pay  nor  thanks  for  all  it  had  done,  and  so  the  basket  was  sulky,  and 
refused  to  carry  the  load  to  the  village,  and  the  woman  at  last  had  to 
take  up  the  burden  and  carry  it  upon  her  back;  and  she  felt  aggrieved 
and  bitter  because  the  basket  would  not  carry  it  for  her.  She  did  not 
consider  that  all  the  service  she  had  ever  had  from  the  basket  was  from 
kindness  and  good  will  and  not  from  obligation. 

And  ever  since  that  time  the  women  have  had  to  carry  burdens  upon 
their  backs,  for  the  baskets  no  longer  carried  burdens  for  them. 


CAUSE  OF  THE   BREAKING  UP  OF  THE   ICE  IN  THE 
MISSOURI  RIVER  IN  SPRINGTIME 

A  Myth  of  the  Dakota  Nation 
It  is  said  that  in  the  long  ago  there  was  a  mysterious  being  within 
the  stream  of  the  Missouri  River.    It  was  seldom  seen  by  human  beings, 

[26] 


and  was  most  dreadful  to  see.  It  is  said  that  sometimes  it  was  seen  within 
the'^water  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  causing  a  redness  shining  like  the 
redness  of  fire  as  it  passed  up  the  stream  against  the  current  with  a  ter- 
rific roaring  sound. 

And  they  say  that  if  this  dreadful  being  was  seen  by  anyone  in  the 
daytime  anyone  who  thus  saw  it  soon  after  became  crazy  and  continued 
restless  and  writhing  as  though  in  pain  until  he  was  relieved  by  death. 
And  it  is  said  that  one  time  not  a  very  great  many  years  ago  this  fright- 
ful being  was  seen  by  a  man,  and  he  told  how  it  appeared.  He  said  that 
it  was  of  strange  form  and  covered  all  over  with  hair  like  a  buffalo,  but 
red  in  color;  that  it  had  only  one  eye  in  the  middle  of  its  forehead,  and 
above  that  a  single  horn.  Its  backbone  stood  out  notched  and  jagged 
like  an  enormous  saw.  As  soon  as  the  man  beheld  the  awful  sight 
everything  became  dark  to  him,  he  said.  He  was  just  able  to  reach 
home,  but  he  lost  his  reason  and  soon  after  that  he  died. 

It  is  said  this  mysterious  "Miniwashitu"  (water  monster)  still  lives 
in  the  Missouri  River,  and  that  in  springtime,  as  it  moves  upstream 
against  the  current  it  breaks  up  the  ice  of  the  river.  This  water  mon- 
ster was  held  in  awe  and  dread  by  the  people. 


THE  WATER-SPRING  OF  THE  HOLY  MAN 

A  Myth  of  the  Dakota  Natimi 

Long  ago  there  was  a  village  of  people  of  the  Dakota  Nation, 
which  was  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  great  river  which  they  call  the 
Muddy-water  River,  but  which  white  people  call  the  Missouri  River.  The 
white  people  named  it  so  from  the  Missouri  nation  of  Indians  on  the 
lower  course  of  this  great  river. 

This  village  we  have  just  mentioned  was  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river  nearly  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cannonball  River.  The  people 
were  happy  in  this  village,  for  it  was  a  pleasant  place.  There  was  plenty 
of  wood  for  their  fires,  and  there  was  an  abundance  of  buffalo  berries, 
wild  plums,  choke-cherries,  June  berries,  wild  grapes,  wild  raspberries 
and  other  fruit  growing  in  the  woods.  Upon  the  high  prairie  there  was 
much  tipsin,  whose  roots  are  so  good  when  cooked  with  meat  or  with 
dried  green  com.  Moreover,  in  the  timber  were  many  boxelder  trees, 
whose  sap  was  made  into  sugar  in  early  spring  time.  Not  far  away  were 
some  lakes  where  there  were  many  wild  ducks  and  geese  and  other  water 
fowl.  The  flesh  of  these  fowl,  and  also  their  eggs  were  good  food.  Upon 
the  prairie  were  herds  of  buffalo  and  antelope  and  elk,  and  in  the  timber 
along  the  river  were  many  deer. 

And  below  the  hills,  on  the  level  ground  of  the  river  valley  there  was 
fertile  soil  where  they  planted  their  fields  of  corn  and  beans  and 
squashes.  They  also  cultivated  the  great  sunflowers  whose  seeds  are  so 
good  for  food. 

And  the  people  loved  this  place,  for  besides  all  the  good  things  to 
eat,  and  other  comforts  which  it  gave  them,  it  was  also  pleasant  to  look 
upon.  There  was  the  mysterious  river  coming  down  from  the  distant 
mountains  away  in  the  west  and  flowing  on  towards  the  lands  of  other 

[27] 


nations  of  people  in  the  south,  and  whose  channel  could  be  seen  winding 
its  gleaming  way  among  the  dark  trees  on  its  shores.  Upon  the  prairie 
hills  in  early  spring  the  courageous  little  pasque  flowers  appeared  like 
a  gray-blue  cloud  let  down  upon  the  hill-tops  where  they  nodded  their 
cheery  greetings  to  the  people  who  passed  them.  A  little  later  in  the 
little  vales  were  masses  of  deep  blue  violets.  Still  later  the  prairie  was 
bright  with  the  colour  and  the  air  was  sweet  with  the  breath  of  the  wild 
rose  of  the  prairie.  The  cheery  meadowlark,  which  the  people  call  the 
bird  of  promise,  flitted  here  and  there  and  called  his  greetings  and  prom- 
ised good  things  to  his  friends,  the  Dakota  people. 

And  through  the  procession  of  the  seasons  there  were  spread  out  be- 
fore their  eyes  on  all  sides  scenes  of  beauty,  changing  with  the  change  of 
seasons  and  changing  every  day,  indeed  the  beauties  of  colour  and  light 
and  shade  were  changing  at  every  stage  of  the  day  from  the  rosy  dawn 
till  the  blue  shades  of  evening  came. 

Yes,  it  was  a  delightful  land  and  the  people  rejoiced  in  it.  But  a 
strange  thing  happened  which  caused  the  people  to  move  away  to  a  far 
distant  place.    And  this  is  the  way  it  happened: 

There  was  living  in  this  village  an  old  man,  a  wise  man,  a  man  who 
was  held  in  great  respect  by  the  people,  for  he  was  a  holy  man,  to  whom 
the  Unseen  Powers  granted  knowledge  not  given  to  all  the  people.  And 
these  revelations  came  to  the  holy  man  in  visions. 

This  holy  man  was  now  too  old  and  feeble  to  till  the  soil  and  raise 
crops  of  food  plants,  or  to  go  on  the  chase  for  game,  or  to  gather  any  of 
the  wild  food  plants.  But  because  they  held  him  in  honor  the  young  men 
were  glad  to  provide  for  him,  and  the  women  cooked  for  him  of  the 
best  they  had. 

But  one  time  he  had  a  vision  which  made  him  very  sad,  so  that  he 
could  only  cry  and  weep  and  could  not  speak  of  his  vision  for  sadness  of 
heart.  And  the  people  besought  him  to  tell  them  his  vision,  for,  they 
said,  "if  it  is  a  vision  of  evil  to  come,  we  may  as  well  know  the  worst. 
We  ought  to  be  prepared  for  it."  For  a  long  time  the  old  man  could  not 
bring  himself  to  tell  them  the  evil  foreboding  which  had  come  to  him. 
But  at  last,  when  they  continued  strongly  urging  him  to  tell  them  what 
it  was,  he  said:  "Well,  my  children,  I  will  tell  you  the  vision,  for  it  may 
be  that  I  shall  not  live  long.  This  vision  has  come  to  me  from  the 
Mysterious  and  Awful  Powers,  and  it  is  full  of  evil  portent  for  our  peo- 
ple." But  now  he  was  again  so  overcome  by  sadness  that  he  was  unable 
to  tell  it. 

Again,  after  some  days  the  people  begged  him  to  tell  the  vision,  and 
they  pressed  him  so  urgently  that  finally  he  said:  "This  is  what  I  saw  in 
my  vision,  which  has  come  to  me  repeatedly.  I  saw  a  great  incursion  of 
human  beings  of  strange  appearance.  They  are  coming  from  the  direc- 
tion of  the  rising  sun  and  are  moving  toward  this  land  in  multitudes  so 
great  that  they  cannot  be  counted.  They  move  everywhere  over  the  face 
of  the  land  like  the  restless  fluctuations  of  heated  air  which  are  some- 
times seen  incessantly  wavering  over  the  heated  prairie  on  a  summer  day. 
They  are  moving  on  resistlessly  toward  us  and  nothing  can  stop  them, 
and  they  will  take  our  land  from  us.    They  are  a  terrible  people  and  of  a 

[28] 


monstrous  appearance.  The  skin  of  this  people  is  not  of  a  wholesome 
C0I05  like  the  skin  of  our  people  who  are  bom  of  our  holy  mother  earth. 
Their  skin  is  hideous  and  ghastly,  and  the  men  have  hairy  faces  like  the 
face  of  a  wolf.  They  are  not  kind  like  our  people;  they  are  savages, 
cruel  and  unfeeling.  They  have  no  reverence  for  our  holy  places,  nor 
for  our  holy  mother  earth.  And  they  kill  and  destroy  all  things  and 
make  the  land  desolate.  They  have  no  ear  for  the  voices  of  the  trees  and 
the  flowers,  and  no  pity  for  the  birds  and  the  beasts  of  the  field.  And 
they  deface  and  spoil  the  beauty  of  the  land  and  befoul  the  water 
courses. 

"And  they  have  many  dreadful  customs.  When  a  person  dies  the 
body  is  not  honorably  laid  upon  a  funeral  scaffold  on  the  prairie  or  in  the 
branches  of  a  tree  in  the  forest  as  we  do,  but  they  dig  a  hole  in  the 
ground  and  put  the  body  down  into  the  hole  and  then  fill  the  hole  up 
again,  throwing  the  dirt  down  upon  the  body.  And  they  have  strange 
and  powerful  weapons,  so  that  when  they  come  our  people  will  not  be 
able  to  withstand  them.  It  is  this  dreadful  vision  which  has  overcome 
me  with  sadness." 

Then  the  people  were  amazed  and  angry.  They  tried  to  have  him 
change  his  vision,  but  he  could  not.  Again  the  same  vision  came  to  him. 
The  leading  men  now  counseled  and  gave  the  order  that  the  people  should 
give  him  no  more  food  for  some  days  They  said,  "Perhaps  he  will  have 
a  different  vision."  So  he  was  left  alone  in  his  tent  for  four  days.  And 
on  the  fourth  day  when  they  came  to  his  tent  they  found  him  dead.  They 
had  not  intended  to  cause  his  death,  but  they  hoped  that  if  they  let  him 
become  very  hungry  he  would  change  his  vision. 

Now  when  they  found  him  dead  they  were  shocked  and  astonished 
and  very  angry.  They  said,  "Now  the  evil  which  he  foretold  will  come, 
for  he  died  without  changing  his  vision."  And  they  said  "We  will  not 
bury  him  honorably  upon  a  scaffold  according  to  our  custom,  but  we  will 
bury  him  in  a  hole  in  the  ground,  as  he  said  his  'wandering  people'  bury 
their  dead."  So  they  dug  a  hole  and  into  this  they  put  the  body  of  the 
old  man  and  put  the  earth  back  again  upon  the  body. 

At  evening  some  women  were  gazing  out  across  the  river  in  the  twi- 
light, and  they  saw  a  man  come  up  out  of  the  river  and  advance  toward 
the  village.  When  he  came  nearer  they  saw  it  was  the  holy  man  who  had 
died  and  whose  body  had  been  buried  in  a  hole  in  the  ground.  When  he 
died  he  had  changed  from  this  life  to  the  life  of  those  who  dwell  in  "The 
Land  of  Evening  Mirage."  From  the  place  where  they  buried  him  he 
had  gone  out  under  the  ground  and  had  come  up  out  of  the  water  of  the 
river.  Now  when  he  came  up  out  from  the  water  he  was  changed  back 
again  to  the  life  on  earth.  From  this  it  was  evident  to  all  the  people  that 
he  was  indeed  a  very  holy  man,  and  that  his  vision  was  true  and  must 
come  to  pass.  They  gave  him  a  good  dwelling  and  provided  for  all  his 
needs,  and  the  women  cooked  for  him  the  best  food  they  had,  and  every 
one  did  homage  to  him  and  paid  him  reverence. 

After  a  time  he  knew  that  the  end  of  his  life  was  approaching,  and 
as  he  was  about  to  die  he  called  the  leading  men  about  him  and  said, 
"The  vision  which  I  had  will  truly  come  to  pass  in  future  time.     Now  I 

[29] 


am  about  to  die.  When  I  am  dead  let  me  be  buried  in  the  ground  again 
at  the  place  where  I  was  buried  before.  You  will  see  that  some  good 
thing  will  come  of  it  for  our  people  at  this  place.  And  it  shall  be  good 
for  all  people  at  this  place  forever."  When  he  said  something  good 
would  come  they  thought  he  meant  that  the  people  should  be  saved  from 
the  cruel  and  savage,  strange,  pale-skinned  people  of  his  vision,  but  that 
was  not  what  he  meant. 

When  the  holy  man  was  dead  they  would  have  preferred  to  give 
him  honorable  scaffold  burial  as  was  customary,  but  they  did  as  he  had 
directed  and  buried  him  in  the  ground  where  he  had  been  buried  before. 
But  this  time,  they  dug  out  a  roomy  place,  and  made  walls  and  a  roof  with 
timbers,  and  in  this  place  they  put  the  body  of  the  holy  man  after 
dressing  him  in  the  best  of  garments  decorated  with  porcupine  quill 
embroidery,  and  wrapped  in  a  fine  buffalo  robe  painted  with  beautiful  de- 
signs. And  they  placed  with  him  his  pipe  and  tobacco  and  food  and  valu- 
able presents  of  all  kinds.  Then  they  covered  it  all  over  with  earth 
again  and  set  the  sod  as  it  was  before 

At  evening  they  watched  the  place  in  the  river  where  he  had  re- 
appeared the  other  time  after  his  burial.  They  thought  he  might  return 
again  out  of  the  water  of  the  river,  but  he  did  not  come.  And  they 
listened  above  the  little  house  they  had  made  for  him  under  the  ground, 
but  they  heard  not  the  slightest  sound  of  breathing  or  any  movement. 
Then  they  made  a  sacred  fire  by  the  grave  from  twigs  of  the  cedar  tree, 
for  this  tree  is  holy  and  sacred  to  the  Good  Powers  and  the  breath  of 
its  fire  will  bring  persons  of  good  intention  into  communion  with  those 
Unseen  Powers.  But  the  holy  man  did  not  appear  by  the  sacred  fire  and 
he  was  never  seen  again  by  any  of  the  people. 

Now  the  people  became  so  burdened  with  sadness  that  they  could 
not  endure  to  remain  at  this  place,  so  they  moved  far  away,  where  they 
found  another  good  country.  In  this  new  place  they  stayed  until  all  the 
people  who  were  grown  at  the  time  they  left  the  village  of  the  holy  man's 
grave,  had  become  old  and  had  died.  And  none  had  ever  been  back 
there.  Then,  when  all  those  who  were  but  boys  and  girls  when  they 
left  the  former  village  had  now  become  old  men  and  women,  their  tribe 
began  to  suffer  harrassment  from  an  enemy  people  of  another  tribe. 
Their  enemies  were  too  strong  for  them,  so  they  had  to  think  of  mov- 
ing to  another  place.  And  so  it  came  into  their  minds  to  return  to  the 
place  by  the  Muddy- Water  River,  where  they  had  lived  at  the  time  when 
those  of  their  people  who  were  now  old  had  been  merry,  happy  children. 

So  they  came  back,  and  before  they  had  reached  the  place  the  old 
men  said,  "Let  us  go  on  ahead  and  see  the  grave  of  the  holy  man."  And 
when  the  old  men  came  to  the  place  where  the  holy  man  had  been  buried 
they  found  that  a  spring  of  good  water  issued  from  the  place  where  the 
holy  man's  grave  had  been.  And  that  is  why  we  call  this  spring  "The 
Holy  Man's  Waterspring." 

And  it  is  said  that  now  a  bright  star  is  often  seen  shining  over  this 
spring  for  a  while  and  that  it  then  goes  down  and  disappears  into  the 
water  of  the  spring.  And  it  is  said  that  sometimes  when  the  moon  is 
full  and  bright  the  holy  man  may  be  seen  walking  near  the  spring. 

[30] 


When  one  approaches  to  speak  to  him  he  disappears  into  the  spring.  Not 
all  persons  can  see  these  things,  but  only  those  whose  hearts  are  kind  and 
gentle,  and  whose  minds  are  in  accord  with  Nature,  and  who  have 
reverence  for  holy  things  and  for  the  beauties  and  mysteries  in  Nature. 


THE  SACRED  SYMBOL  OF  THE  CIRCLE 

To  the  Dakotas  the  form  of  the  circle  is  a  sacred  symbol  because 
Great  Spirit  caused  everything  in  nature  except  stone  to  be  round. 
Stone  is  the  implement  of  destruction.  The  sun,  the  earth  and  the  moon 
are  round  like  a  shield,  and  the  sky  is  round  like  a  bowl  inverted  over  the 
earth.  All  breathing  creatures  are  round  like  a  human  body.  All  things 
growing  out  of  the  ground  are  round,  as  the  trunk  of  a  tree  or  the  stem 
of  an  herb.  The  edge  of  the  world  is  a  circle,  hence  the  circle  is  a  symbol 
of  the  world  and  of  the  winds  which  travel  to  us  from  all  points  on  the 
edge  of  the  world.  The  sun  and  the  moon  which  mark  the  day  and  the 
night  travel  in  a  circle  above  the  sky;  for  this  reason  the  circle  is  a 
symbol  of  these  divisions  of  time,  and  of  the  year,  and  so  is  the  symbol 
for  all  time. 

Raindrops  are  round,  and  so  are  the  drops  of  dew  hanging  like 
strings  of  beads  upon  the  grass  blades.  Pellets  of  hail  and  of  sleet  are 
round.  Every  snowflake  has  a  centre  from  which  lines  radiate  as  from 
the  centre  of  a  circle.  The  rainbow,  which  beautifies  the  sky  after 
showers,  is  round. 

Because  Great  Spirit  has  caused  almost  all  things  to  be  round  it  is 
for  us  a  sacred  symbol;  it  reminds  us  of  the  work  of  Great  Spirit  in  the 
universe.  And  for  this  reason  Dakotas  make  their  tipis  round;  and  in 
laying  a  camp  the  tipis  are  set  in  a  circular  line;  and  in  all  ceremonies 
they  sit  in  a  circle. 

The  circle  is  a  symbol  of  the  tipi  and  of  shelter  and  comfort.  In 
decorative  figures  the  undivided  circle  is  a  symbol  of  the  world  and  of 
time.  If  the  circle  be  filled  with  red  it  is  a  symbol  of  the  sun;  if  filled 
with  blue  it  is  a  symbol  of  the  sky.  If  the  circle  be  divided  into  four 
parts  it  is  a  symbol  of  the  four  winds. 

The  mouthpiece  of  a  pipe  should  always  be  passed  about  the  circle 
and  offered  to  the  four  directions  before  it  is  formally  smoked. 


THE  SACRED  NUMBER  FOUR 

It  appears  that  Great  Spirit  caused  everything  in  the  world  to  be  in 
fours;  for  this  reason  mankind's  activities  of  all  kinds  should  be  gov- 
erned by  the  number  four  out  of  respect  to  this  sacred  number  and  in 
agreement  with  it. 

We  see  that  there  are  four  directions:  the  north,  the  east,  the  south, 
and  the  west;  four  divisions  of  time:  the  day,  the  night,  the  moon,  and 
the  year;  there  are  four  seasons:  the  spring,  the  summer,  the  autumn,  and 
the  winter;  there  are  four  parts  to  everything  that  grows  from  the 
ground:  the  roots,  the  stems,  the  leaves,  and  the  fruits;  four  kinds  of 
things  that  breathe:  those  that  crawl,  those  that  fly,  those  that  walk  on 

[31] 


four  legs,  and  those  that  walk  on  two  legs;  four  things  above  the  world; 
the  sun,  the  moon,  the  sky,  and  the  stars;  four  kinds  of  gods:  the  great, 
the  associates  of  the  great,  the  gods  below  them,  and  the  spirit  kind; 
four  periods  of  human  life:  infancy,  youth,  adulthood,  and  old  age;  man- 
kind has  four  fingers  on  each  hand,  four  toes  on  each  foot,  and  the 
thumbs  and  big  toes  of  each  taken  together  make  four. 

All  these  tokens  of  the  works  of  Great  Spirit  should  cause  mankind 
to  order  his  ceremonies  and  all  activities  so  far  as  possible  by  this  sacred 
number. 


THE  PRISTINE  PRAIRIE 

To  obtain  even  an  approximate  appreciation  of  the  conditions  of  life 
as  they  presented  themselves  to  the  people  of  the  nations  which  formerly 
occupied  the  region  drained  by  the  Missouri  River  and  its  tributaries  we 
must  bring  ourselves  to  see  it  as  it  was  in  its  natural  condition,  void 
of  all  the  countless  changes  and  accessories  which  we  have  erected  here 
by  our  European  culture  and  custom. 

Imagine,  then,  a  country  of  open  prairie  stretching  av/ay  and  away 
beyond  the  range  of  vision  over  hill,  valley,  and  plain,  the  skyline  un- 
broken by  trees,  except  a  fringe  along  the  course  of  the  streams.  The 
aspect  of  this  landscape  in  summer  was  that  of  a  boundless  sea  of  shining 
green,  billowing  under  the  prevailing  south  wind,  darkened  here  and 
there  by  the  swiftly  marching  shadows  of  clouds  sailing  high  and  white 
in  the  brilliant  blue  sky.  Toward  the  end  of  summer  the  sun  appears  to 
have  shed  some  of  its  lustre  upon  the  plain  below,  for  it  nov/  shines  with 
a  paler  light,  while  the  ever  restless,  rustling,  whispering  sea  of  grass 
waves  in  rolling  billows  of  golden  green,  seeming  to  be  forever  flowing 
on  before  the  south  wind  into  the  mysterious  North,  changing  again  into 
yellow  and  warm  brown  as  autumn  comes  on. 

Then  it  may  happen  some  day  that  the  whole  aspect  is  suddenly 
changed.  Fire  has  escaped  in  the  sea  of  dry  grass.  To  the  windward  the 
horizon  is  one  long  line  of  smoke,  which,  as  it  comes  nearer,  rolls  up  in 
black  masses  shot  through  with  darting  tongues  of  angry  red  flames 
leaping  a  hundred  feet  skyward,  while  the  sound  of  the  conflagration  is 
like  that  of  a  rushing  storm.  Frightened  animals  are  fleeing  before  it 
in  terror  for  their  lives  and  birds  are  flying  from  the  threatened  destruc- 
tion. 

This  scene  passes,  and  now  the  whole  visible  earth  is  one  vast  stretch 
of  coal  black,  and  the  whole  sky  is  a  thick  blue  haze  in  which  the  sun 
seems  to  hang  like  a  great  red  ball,  while  an  unbroken  silence  pervades 
the  land. 

Then  winter  comes  with  days  of  leaden  sky  and  blackened  earth, 
succeeded  by  clear  days  when  the  snow-covered  earth  appears  like  a  vast 
white  bowl  encrusted  with  frost-diamonds  and  inclosed  by  an  over- 
arching dome  of  most  brilliant  blue. 

[32] 


Again  the  season  changes;  warm  airs  blow  from  the  south;  soft 
showers  fall;  the  sound  of  the  first  thunder  wakens  all  Nature;  the 
blackened  earth  appears  once  more,  soon  showing  color  from  the  pale 
green  spears  of  tender  young  grass,  and  in  a  short  time  the  form  of 
Mother  Earth  is  once  more  clothed  in  a  mantle  of  shining  green. 

And  now  as  the  biting  winds  of  winter  yield  to  the  balmy  breezes 
from  the  south  all  the  vernal  flora  is  quickened  into  life  and  beauty.  The 
modest  blue  violets  appear  in  such  profuse  abundance  that  they  seem  like 
shreds  of  the  sky  wafted  by  the  spring  breezes  over  the  land  and  drifted 
into  every  swale  and  ravine.  On  the  upland  the  purple  flowers  of  the 
buffalo  pea  show  themselves;  in  sandy  places  of  the  Middle  Great  Plains 
the  dainty  lavender  blue  bonnets  of  the  early  wind-flower  are  trembling 
in  the  breeze.  In  the  Northern  Great  Plains  the  snow  is  scarcely  gone 
before  the  pasque  flowers,  first  gladsome  harbingers  of  the  lovely  hosts 
to  follow,  troop  forth  over  the  bleak  hillsides,  "very  brave  little  flowers," 
the  Cree  Indians  say,  "which  come  while  it  is  still  so  cold  that  they  must 
come  wearing  their  fur  coats."  This  is  in  allusion  to  the  furry  appear- 
ance of, the  pasque  flower. 

And  as  the  floral  life  manifests  itself  all  the  native  faunal  life  is  also 
awakened  to  renewed  activity.  The  migratory  birds  are  seen  and  heard 
flying  northward  by  relays  in  hundreds  of  thousands.  The  course  of  the 
Missouri  River  marks  upon  the  earth  the  chart  by  which  they  direct  their 
northward  flight  toward  their  summer  homing  places.  The  Arkansas 
River,  the  Kansas,  the  Platte,  the  Niobrara  and  the  White  River  are 
relay  stations  of  their  journey,  and  the  countless  V-shaped  flocks  coming 
northward  in  long  lines  wheel,  circling  down  until  tracts  many  acres  in 
extent  are  whitened  by  the  great  numbers  of  snow  geese,  while  the 
Canada  geese  in  equal  numbers  darken  other  tracts;  ducks  in  great  num- 
bers are  swimming  on  all  the  ponds  and  quiet  streams,  and  regiments 
and  brigades  of  tall  gray  cranes  are  continually  marching  and  counter- 
marching on  land  or  sailing  like  fleets  of  monoplanes  far  up  in  the  clear 
blue,  whence  float  down  to  earth  the  vibrant  notes  of  their  bugle  calls  as 
they  travel  on  into  the  North.  On  the  higher  prairies  at  sunrise  as  the 
long  rays  of  the  red  morning  sun  slant  brightly  across  the  land  the 
booming,  drum-like  sound  of  hundreds  of  prairie  chickens  is  heard  at 
their  assemblies,  for  at  this  season  they  dance, the  mating  dance  at  the 
sunrise  hour.  Soon  the  meadowlarks,  "the  birds  of  promise,"  appear, 
singing  their  songs  of  promise  of  good  things  for  their  friends,  the 
human  beings;  and, they  set  about  the  duties  of  housekeeping,  building 
their  lowly  nests  at  the  grass  roots,  and  all  about  are  scenes  of  bright- 
ness and  sounds  of  gladness. 

It  was  in  suchja  country  as  this,  then,  that  the  people  of  the  several 
different  native  nations  who  were  here  before  us  lived  and  took  joy  of  the 
good  gifts  of  Mother  Earth  and  from  their  own  activities,  and  in  all  the 
beauty  of  this  good  land.  And  they  loved  this  land  for  all  its  good  gifts 
and  for  its  beauty,  and  for  these  and  for  its  mystery  and  grandeur  they 
paid  reverence. 

[33] 


[34] 


ABORIGINAL  AMERICAN  AGRICULTURE 

^^See  Map.  Vertical  lines  indicate  region  under  agriculture  hy  natural 
rainfall.  Horizontal  lines  indicate  region  farmed  under  irrigation.  Both 
regions  were  settled  in  permanent  villages. 

Most  people  of  this  country,  of  the  now  dominant  European  race, 
seldom  give  a  thought  to  the  aboriginal  economic  conditions  which  pre- 
vailed here  before  this  country  was  Europeanised.  They  seldom  think 
of  the  precolumbian  utilisation  of  the  natural  resources  of  this  continent 
by  the  people  of  the  native  American  race.  They  do  not  consider  the 
myriad  possible  uses  of  plants  and  plant  products  by  the  people  of  the 
native  tribes.  Most  persons  of  our  European  race  in  arrogant  self- 
satisfaction  have  not  been  accustomed  to  think  of  those  of  the  American 
race  as  agriculturists  at  all,  much  less  have  we  given  thought  to  the 
contributions  made  by  that  race  to  the  world's  agriculture.  But  according 
to  the  United  States  crop  report  of  1916  the  value  of  the  crops  in  this 
country  alone,  of  plants  which  were  first  brought  under  cultivation  by 
Indians,  is  $3,000,000,000. 

No  doubt  the  beginnings  of  agriculture,  with  our  own  European  race 
and  with  every  race,  was  simply  the  gathering  and  storing  of  supplies  of 
wild  plant  products,  and  proceeded  by  the  stages  of  intentional  dissemi- 
nation and  cultivation,  selection  and  improvement  of  stock  into  myriad 
varieties. 

When  European  explorers  first  visited  the  Atlantic  shores  of  America 
they  found  the  native  tribes  to  be  agriculturists,  living  in  villages  of 
permanent  houses,  and  with  their  cultivated  fields  stretching  about  the 
villages.  And  as  the  explorers  advanced  into  the  interior  of  the  con- 
tinent they  found  similar  conditions  to  prevail  as  far  as  to  and  including 
the  Missouri  River  valley.  So  it  was  found  that  in  all  the  region  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
region  of  the  upper  Missouri  river  all  the  various  Indian  nations  were 
settled  agriculturists.  On  the  High  Plains  and  in  the  western  mountains 
the  tribes  could  not  cultivate  the  soil  because  of  the  unfavorable  condi- 
tions. 

The  crops  cultivated  by  the  tribes  in  the  region  above  defined  con- 
sisted of  corn,  beans,  squashes  and  pumpkins  in  many  varieties,  gourds, 
sunflower,  and  tobacco.  According  to  the  testimony  of  some  of  the  early 
explorers  it  appears  that  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  continent  they  also 
cultivated  sweet  potatoes  and  peanuts.  It  may  be  said  that  the  sunflower 
is  native  to  the  western  plains  and  was  there  brought  under  cultivation 
and  improved  to  what  we  have  as  the  cultivated  sunflower  and  was  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  region  from  the  Great  Plains  to  the  Atlantic 
coast.  The  other  crops  above  named  were  introduced  from  the  south 
many  centuries  ago  from  Mexico.  Their  wild  ancestors  grow  there, 
which  would  indicate  that  there  they  were  first  brought  into  domestica- 
tion by  cultivation  and  improvement  of  the  wild  stock.  All  evidence  from 
every  source  seems  to  point  to  the  plateau  of  southeast  Mexico  as  the 
place  of  origin  of  corn.  It  seems  to  have  been  originally  a  large,  coarse 
wild  grass  with  seeds  which  were  at  least  large  enough  to  furnish  an 
article  of  food  when  gathered  in  quantity.    The  botanical  evidence  would 

[35] 


indicate  that  it  was  a  branched  stalk  and  that  all  the  branches  and  the 
terminal  alike  bore  loose  panicles  of  seeds,  not  in  compact  ears  as  we 
now  know  the  com  ear.  But  ages  of  cultivation  and  selection  by  obscure 
and  forgotten  tribes  of  primitive  farmers  have  produced  a  plant  which 
bears  its  staminate  flowers  generally  on  the  terminal  and  its  pistillate 
flowers  on  side  branches  modified  into  what  we  know  as  the  com  ear. 
Not  only  had  the  above-described  modification  taken  place  in  the  process 
of  long  ages  of  cultivation  and  selection,  but  the  five  great  types  of  com 
had  been  formed  and  developed  into  innumerable  varieties  of  each  type 
prior  to  the  advent  of  white  men  on  this  continent.  The  five  types  to 
which  I  have  referred  are  dent  com,  flour  corn,  flint  com,  sweet  com,  and 
pop  com.  Dent  com  was  obtained  first  by  white  men  from  the  Indians 
of  Virginia  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  at  the  first 
settlement  of  that  colony  by  the  English.  The  New  England  tribes  had 
flint  corn,  flour  corn,  and  sweet  com,  and  pop  corn,  but  not  dent  com. 
The  tribes  of  the  upper  Missouri  River  had  flint  corn,  flour  com  and 
sweet  com. 

The  Arikara  and  Mandan  on  the  upper  Missouri  were  the  great  agri- 
cultural tribes  of  this  region.  Omaha  legend  credits  the  Arikara  with 
first  ha\-ing  com  and  with  having  distributed  to  other  tribes.  And  the 
common  pictograph  to  represent  the  Arikara  among  all  the  surrounding 
tribes  was  a  conventionalised  ear  of  com.  In  the  sign  language  also  the 
surrounding  tribes  designated  the  Arikara  by  a  motion  of  the  hands 
depicting  the  act  of  shelling  com,  or  by  the  motions  of  eating  an  ear  of 
com.  Washington  Matthews  says:  "There  are  some  reasons  for  be- 
lie\'ing  that  the  Arikara  represent  an  older  race  of  farmers  than  the 
Mandan;  for  their  religious  ceremonies  connected  vnth  the  planting  are 
the  more  numerous,  and  they  honor  the  com  with  a  species  of  worship." 
And  it  is  the  work  of  these  northern  tribes  in  past  centuries  in  accli- 
mating com  to  the  short  northern  summer  -^-ith  its  cool  nights  which  has 
made  it  possible  for  the  states  of  North  Dakota,  Montana  and  Minnesota 
now  to  be  corn-producing  states;  for  acclimation  is  a  long  and  gradual 
process  and  was  accomplished  during  a  northward  migration  from 
Mexico  which  occupied  many  centuries  of  time. 

In  the  arid  region  of  what  is  now  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  the  work 
of  agriculture  was  carried  on  by  means  of  irrigation  ages  before  the 
coming  of  white  men,  and  the  old  irrigation  ditches  made  by  the  primi- 
tive Indian  farmers  of  that  region  may  still  be  traced — irrigation  works 
made  without  other  power  than  human  muscles  and  without  the  use  of 
iron;  the  shovels  used  being  made  of  bone. 

The  world  is  indebted  to  the  aboriginal  American  agriculturists  not 
only  for  all  types  of  com  which  we  now  have,  but  also  for  all  kinds  of 
beans,  for  pumpkins  and  squashes,  cultivated  sunflowers,  sweet  potatoes, 
peanuts,  and  many  other  crops  among  our  present  day  staples. 

A  great  handicap  to  the  primitive  American  farmer  was  the  lack  of 
iron  tools;  for  they  had  no  iron  before  the  coming  of  white  men.  Another 
handicap  was  the  absence  of  horses.  The  horse  was  not  native  to  the 
westem  hemisphere,  and  was  first  introduced  by  the  Spaniards. 
Previously  the  only  beast  of  burden  in  North  America  was  the  dog.    So 

[36] 


the  cultivation  of  the  ground  was  entirely  handwork;  and  the  tool  most 
in  \ise  was  a  hoe  made  from  the  shoulderblade  of  the  buffalo  or  of  the 
elk.  One  may  imagine  the  immense  labor  which  was  required  to  develop 
and  extend  the  above-named  crops  over  the  continent,  acclimated  and 
ready  to  our  hand  when  we  arrived  in  the  New  World. 


THE  EARTHLODGE 

As  an  example  of  the  modifying  power  of  geographic  influence  ex- 
ercised upon  the  arts,  we  may  consider  the  style  of  architecture  or  domi- 
ciliary structure  prevailing  in  the  Plains  region.  In  each  geographic 
province,  which  also  constitutes  a  culture  area,  the  style  of  housing  is 
different  according  to  natural  resources  and  climatic  conditions.  In  the 
Plains  area  the  permanent  dwelling  was  the  earth-covered  structure; 
while  the  temporary  dwelling  was  the  skin  tent. 

The  earth-covered  house  seems  to  be  an  evolution  from  the  thatched 
house  of  the  southern  plains,  exemplified  in  the  dwellings  of  the  Wichitas. 
Farther  north  the  exigencies  of  the  climate  suggested  the  addition  of  an 
earth  covering. 

All  the  nations  and  tribes  of  the  Missouri,  of  whatever  racial  stock, 
employed  the  same  style  of  dwelling.  In  order  to  effect  the  construction 
of  an  earth-covered  house,  a  circle  of  the  desired  diameter  was  stripped 
off  from  the  surface  soil.  Four  tall,  strong  forked  posts  were  set  in  the 
center  about  8  or  10  feet  apart  in  a  quadrangle.  Beams  were  laid  on 
these  forks.  Outside  of  the  center  posts  a  circle  of  shorter  posts  was 
set  and  beams  laid  in  their  forks.  Rafters  were  laid  from  the  lower  to 
the  upper  beams.  A  wall  of  timbers  was  leaned  up  against  the  circle  of 
lower  beams,  the  base  of  the  leaning  timbers  resting  upon  the  ground. 
An  opening  was  left  at  the  east,  and  here  was  made  a  vestibule  6  to  14 
feet  long. 

Timbers  were  laid  upon  the  rafters,  willow  poles  were  laid  upon  liie 
timbers,  and  a  thatch  of  dry  grass  upon  these  poles.  A  covering  of  earth 
was  now  built  up  about  the  walls  and  over  the  roof  to  a  total  thickness 
of  about  2  feet,  making,  when  complete,  a  dome-shaped  structure. 

All  structural  timbers  and  poles  were  fastened  by  tying  with  ropes 
of  raw  hide  or  of  basswood  or  elm  fiber. 

An  opening  of  several  feet  in  diameter  was  left  at  the  top  of  the 
dome  for  a  skylight,  ventilator,  and  smoke-escape.  The  fireplace  was  at 
the  center  of  the  earth  floor;  the  sleeping  compartments  were  ranged 
about  next  to  the  wall.  The  altar  was  at  the  west  side,  opposite  the 
doorway. 

The  diameter  of  the  house  varied,  according  to  the  needs  of  the 
family  which  occupied  it,  from  30  to  50  or  60  feet;  the  height  from  15  to 
20  feet.  This  was  a  family  domicile  and  not  a  community  or  tenement 
house.  Such  family  dwellings  were  clustered  in  villages.  The  evidences 
of  many  such  village  sites  may  be  seen  throughout  all  the  region  of  the 
Missouri  River  drainage  basin.  Their  fields  of  agricultural  crops  were 
CTiltivated  in  alluvial  valleys  usually  near  the  villages,  although  some- 

[37] 


times,  when  suitable  land  was  not  nearby,  their  fields  might  be  at  some 
distance. 

The  earth-covered  house  probably  originated  with  the  tribes  of  Cad- 
doan  stock,  that  is,  the  Pawnee  and  Arikara,  and  was  adopted  by  the 
tribes  of  other  stocks  upon  their  migration  into  the  Missouri  River  region. 

The  Pawnee  had  very  elaborate  ceremonies  and  traditions  connected 
with  the  earth-lodge.  The  earlier  star  cult  is  recognized  in  the  significa- 
tion attached  to  the  four  central  posts.  Each  stood  for  a  star  —  the 
Morning  Star,  and  the  Evening  Star,  symbols  of  the  male  and  female 
cosmic  forces,  and  the  North  and  South  stars. 

In  the  rituals  of  the  Pawnee  the  earth-lodge  is  made  typical  of  man's 
abode  on  the  earth;  the  floor  is  the  plain,  the  wall  the  horizon,  the  dome 
the  arching  sky,  the  central  opening  the  zenith,  the  dwelling-place  of 
Tirawa,  the  invisible  power  which  gives  life  to  all  creatures. 

In  the  poetic  thought  of  the  Pawnee  the  earth  was  regarded  as 
Mother  and  was  so  called  because  from  the  earth's  bounty  mankind  is 
fed.  To  their  imagination  the  form  of  the  earth-lodge  suggests  the  figure 
of  speech  by  which  these  human  dwellings  symbolised  the  breasts  of 
Mother  Earth;  for  here  man  is  nourished  and  nurtured,  he  is  fed  and 
sheltered  and  blessed  with  tenderness  of  life.  Here  he  knows  love  and 
warmth  and  gentleness. 

Herewith  is  given  a  metrical  translation  of  an  ancient  Pawnee  ritual- 
istic hymn.  This  hymn  is  extracted  from  the  ritual  of  a  ceremonial  of 
great  age  in  the  Pawnee  nation,  and  there  were  similar  ceremonials 
among  all  the  tribes  and  nations  of  the  Plains  area.  The  full  ritual  from 
which  this  is  taken  is  published  in  the  Twenty-second  Annual  Report  of 
the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  part  2. 

Having  given  the  description  of  the  structure  of  the  earth-lodge,  the 
allusions  in  the  following  hymn  will  be  readily  understood: 

HYMN  TO  THE  SUN 

I 

Now  behold:  hither  comes  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  it  cometh 

over  all  the  land,  passeth  in  the  lodge,  us  to  touch, 

and  give  us  strength, 

II 
Now  behold:  where  alights  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  it  touches 

lightly  on  the  rim,  the  place  above  the  fire,  whence  the 

smoke  ascends  on  high. 

Ill 
Now  behold:  softly  creeps  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  now  o'er 

the  rim  it  creeps  to  us,  climbs  down  within  the  lodge; 

climbing  down,  it  comes  to  us. 

IV 

Now  behold:  nearer  comes  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  it  reaches 
now  the  floor  and  moves  within  the  open  space,  walking  there, 
the  lodge  about. 

Now  behold  where  has  passed  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  around 
the  lodge  the  ray  has  passed  and  left  its  blessing  there, 
touching  us,  each  one  of  us. 

[38] 


VI 

Now  behold:  softly  climbs  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  it  upward 
climbs,  and  o'er  the  rim  it  passes  from  the  place  whence 
the  smoke  ascends  on  high. 

VII 

Now  behold  on  the  hills  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  it  lingers 
there  as  loath  to  go,  while  all  the  plain  is  dark.    Now  has 
gone  the  ray  from  us. 

VIII 

Now  behold:  lost  to  us  the  ray  of  our  father  Sun;  beyond  our 
sight  the  ray  has  gone,  returning  to  the  place  whence  it 
came  to  bring  us  strength. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  TIPI 

The  temporary  dwelling  used  for  traveling  was  a  conical  tent  made 
from  buffalo  skins  erected  on  a  frame  of  poles.  It  commonly  had  about 
twenty  poles  averaging  twenty-five  feet  in  length.  The  poles  were  set  in 
a  circle  about  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  held  together  above  by  a  hide  rope 
wound  round  the  whole  set  of  poles  about  four  feet  from  the  upper  ends. 
Three  poles  were  first  tied  together,  then  the  others  were  laid  in  the 
forks  of  these,  then  the  rope  was  passed  round  all  of  them  and  tied. 
The  cover  was  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  buffalo  hides  cut  and  fitted 
so  that  when  sewn  together  with  sinew  thread,  they  formed  a  single  large 
sheet  nearly  semi-circular  in  shape.  This  was  lifted  into  place  by  a 
special  pole  at  the  back  of  the  structure,  then  the  ends  were  brought 
around  to  the  front  and  fastened  by  means  of  eight  or  ten  small  wooden 
pins  at  intervals  from  the  door  to  the  crossing  of  the  poles.  The  bottom 
was  kept  in  place  by  pegs  about  two  feet  apart  around  the  circle.  The 
door  was  usually  a  piece  of  skin  stretched  over  an  elliptical  frame. 

At  the  top  an  opening  was  left  for  ventilation  and  outlet  for  the 
smoke  of  the  fire.  The  draft  was  regulated  by  two  flaps  or  wings  sup- 
ported each  on  a  movable  pole  slanted  alongside  the  tipi  with  its  base  on 
the  ground  and  its  top  fastened  to  the  apex  of  the  smoke-flap.  This  held 
the  draft  open  to  the  side  away  from  the  wind  and  was  moved  according 
to  the  changes  of  the  wind  so  as  always  to  be  open  to  the  lee  side. 

The  beds  were  at  the  sides  and  the  back  of  the  tipi.  Decorated  cur- 
tains above  the  beds  kept  off  any  drops  of  rain  which  might  come  through 
the  smoke-hole  in  rainy  weather.  The  ground  was  the  floor,  the  part 
near  the  beds  sometimes  cut  off  from  the  open  space  by  a  hedge  of  inter- 
woven twigs. 

In  warm  weather  the  bottom  of  the  tipi  was  raised  to  allow  the 
breeze  to  pass  through.  In  cold  weather  the  bottom  was  banked  with 
grass  to  keep  out  the  wind. 

The  camp  was  arranged  in  a  circle,  each  band  of  the  tribe  having  its 
own  proper  segment  of  the  circle,  which  was  relatively  the  same  through 
immemorial  generations,  and  each  family  in  each  band  had  its  proper 
place  in  the  segment,  so  that  one  coming  into  camp  after  nightfall, 
although  he  might  not  have  been  in  camp  before,  could  thus  unfailingly 
find  his  way  to  his  own  family. 

[39] 


On  account  of  its  exact  adaptability  to  prairie  life,  the  tipi  was 
taken  as  the  model  of  the  army  tent  which  bears  the  name  of  General 
Sibley,  and  is  used  now  by  our  army. 


AN  OMAHA  GHOST  STORY 

In  the  springtime  a  little  child  had  died  and  was  buried  on  the  hill 
southeast  of  the  village.  The  hill  was  green  with  the  prairie  grass  and 
spangled  with  the  beautiful  wild  flowers  of  the  prairie.  On  the  north 
and  east  the  forest  ascends  the  slope  from  the  Missouri  River  valley  to 
the  crest  of  the  hill,  partly  encircling  the  burial  place  with  a  rampart  of 
green  trees  in  which  were  numbers  of  happy  birds,  busy  with  their  nest- 
building  and  tuneful  with  their  joyful  songs. 

Not  long  after  the  death  of  this  little  child  the  people  went  upon  the 
annual  summer  buffalo  hunt  to  the  Sand  Hill  region  many  miles  away 
to  the  west  from  the  village.  As  the  people  drew  away  from  the  familiar 
home  scenes  of  the  village  the  mother  was  strongly  affected  by  a  feeling 
of  sadness  and  grief  for  her  little  one  which  she  had  to  leave  alone  in  its 
lone  and  narrow  bed  upon  the  hill.  When  the  people  made  camp  and  the 
evening  meal  was  prepared  this  mother  was  so  burdened  with  grief  for 
her  child  that  she  could  not  eat  and  went  away  to  grieve  alone.  When 
she  left  the  camp  she  was  so  drawn  by  yearning  for  her  little  one  that 
she  walked  on  and  on  all  night  toward  the  home  village.  In  the  morning, 
weak  and  weary,  she  was  back  in  the  deserted  village.  All  was  still. 
Not  a  person  and  not  a  dog  was  there.  She  went  into  her  own  house. 
Then  she  went  through  the  village  to  other  houses.  At  some  deserted 
fireplace  she  happened  to  find  some  coals;  so  she  was  able  to  kindle  a  fire 
and  cook  a  bit  of  food.  She  sat  in  her  house  and  wailed  for  her  baby. 
After  a  time  she  heard  sounds.  She  listened  and  there  seemed  to  be 
whispers  and  murmurs  all  about  her.  And  so  it  continued  day  after 
day.  At  first  she  saw  nothing,  but  heard  the  murmurs  and  whispers, 
and  gradually  she  could  almost  understand  what  the  whispers  said, 
especially  when  she  fasted.  She  made  out  enough  to  know  that  it  was 
the  spirits  of  the  departed,  who,  in  the  absence  of  the  living,  returned 
to  occupy  the  houses  during  the  absence  of  the  people. 

After  a  time  she  became  able  to  understand  more  of  what  the 
ghosts  said,  and  finally  she  could  talk  with  them  in  their  own  manner. 
Their  speech  was  not  like  the  speech  of  living  people;  there  was  no  voice, 
but  slight  whispering  sounds,  as  one  sometimes  hears  among  the  grass 
on  the  prairie  when  all  is  still,  or  among  the  leaves  of  growing  corn,  or 
the  light  rustling  of  the  cottonwood  leaves  on  a  quiet  evening. 

At  first  the  woman  saw  nothing,  though  she  could  hear  the  whis- 
pering speech  like  the  breathing  of  those  who  sleep.  Later  she  could 
see,  as  it  seemed,  feet  moving  about  on  the  floor,  but  nothing  above  the 
feet.  As  she  looked  she  could  see  nothing  between  herself  and  the 
opposite  walls  of  the  house.  Then,  after  a  time,  she  semed  to  see  not 
only  the  moccasins  but  the  leggins  above  them  as  far  as  the  knees, 
but  she  never  saw  any  more.     And  thus  it  was  with  her  during  all  the 

[40] 


time  she  dwelt  there  alone  with  the  spirits  until  her  people  returned  to 
the*  village. 

This  time  it  happened  the  people  did  not  return  for  a  year.  When 
the  woman  had  disappeared  from  the  camp  on  their  first  nig-ht  out  the 
people  supposed  she  had  gone  out  somewhere  to  be  alone  to  weep  and 
pray,  but  when  she  did  not  return  they  sought  for  her,  and  not  being 
able  to  find  any  trace  of  her  they  supposed  some  accident  had  befallen 
her  and  that  she  was  dead.  They  were  much  surprised  to  find  her  at 
home  when  they  returned  to  the  village  at  the  end  of  a  year.  But  when 
they  spoke  to  her  they  found  that  she  was  mute;  she  moved  her  lips,  but 
no  sound  came.  After  some  days  she  recovered  speech  and  again  took 
up  her  accustomed  life  with  her  people. 

During  the  year  in  which  she  lived  alone  in  the  deserted  village  she 
had  planted  and  harvested  a  crop  and  had  lived  by  that  and  by  what  food 
may  have  been  left  in  the  storage  places  and  from  the  wild  products 
which  she  gathered. 


AN  OMAHA  HERO  SONG 

All  American  tribes  had  many  different  classes  of  songs.  One  class 
of  songs  was  in  praise  of  tribal  heroes.  There  were  also  songs  of 
chivalry,  celebrating  brave  and  generous  deeds.  To  this  class  belongs 
the  one  given  herewith.  It  must  be  said  in  explanation  that  all  Indian 
songs  are  very  brief.  They  comprise  only  a  line  or  two  and  the  meaning 
of  the  song  is  known  by  the  story  which  is  its  foundation.  To  under- 
stand this  particular  song  it  must  be  explained  that  a  common  military 
custom  among  the  tribes  was  to  award  certain  honors  for  certain  ex- 
ploits, just  as  we  see  in  our  own  armies  the  awarding  of  the  Victoria 
Cross,  the  Distinguished  Service  Medal,  the  Military  Medal,  the  Croix 
de  Guerre,  etc.  In  the  Omaha  tribe  the  highest  military  honor  was 
awarded  for  getting  near  enough  to  the  enemy  to  touch  an  enemy  body, 
either  with  a  lance,  a  bow,  or  any  object  in  the  hand. 

There  was  an  old  warrior  of  this  tribe,  named  Yellow-wood  Bow, 
who  had  fought  well  and  won  many  honors  in  his  time.  But  he  was  now 
old  and  no  longer  able  to  fight  for  his  people.  But  one  day  when  an 
attack  had  been  made  on  his  people  by  the  enemy  and  the  young  men 
were  fighting  valorously,  the  old  man  went  out  walking  feebly  toward 
the  field  of  conflict  to  see  the  battle,  for  he  was  unable  to  sit  quietly  in 
the  village  while  the  fighting  was  going  one.  It  happened  that  as  he 
approached  the  battlefield  two  young  men  were  just  about  to  count 
their  honors  by  striking  with  a  lance  the  body  of  a  slain  enemy  when  one 
saw  the  old  warrior,  Yellow-wood  Bow  approaching.  He  held  back  and 
spoke  to  his  comrade  in  the  words  "Hold!  Yellow-wood  Bow  is  coming!" 
So  the  young  men  gave  over  the  opportunity  of  counting  the  honor  for 
themselves  in  order  that  the  highly  respected  old  warrior  might  have 
this  one  more  chance  to  gain  an  honor,  one  more  honor  to  his  long  list 
of  honors.  And  the  generosity  of  these  two  young  men  is  praised  in  the 
song: 

"Hold!     Yellow-wood  Bow  is  coming!" 
[41] 


In  singing  this  song  not  only  do  the  people  award  praise  and  glory 
to  bravery  and  courage,  but  the  virtue  of  renunciation  shown  by  the 
young  men  also  receives  its  measure  of  praise.  The  song  has  the  pur- 
pose to  inculcate  emulation  of  bravery  and  also  of  generosity  and  un- 
selfishness of  spirit. 


[42] 


stories  of  Plant  People 


SACRED  TREES 

A  people  living  under  natural  conditions  in  communion  with  nature, 
will  carefully  note  the  appearance  of  natural  objects  in  their  environ- 
ment. They  become  acquainted  with  the  various  aspects  of  the  land- 
scape and  of  the  living  things,  plants  and  animals  in  their  changes 
through  the  seasons,  in  storm  and  calm,  in  activity  and  in  repose.  Be- 
coming thus  intimately  acquainted  with  the  life  about  them  the  people 
will  come  to  regard  some  of  the  more  notable  forms  with  a  feeling  akin 
to  that  which  they  have  towards  persons,  and  hence  they  come  to  have 
place  in  folk  stories,  in  reasoned  discourse  and  in  ceremonies  of  religion. 
Commonly  throughout  the  region  of  the  Missouri  River  was  to  be  seen 
the  Cottonwood,  the  willows  of  several  species,  and  the  cedar  or  juniper. 
The  appearance  and  habits  of  these  trees  impressed  themselves  power- 
fully upon  the  mind  and  imagination  of  the  Indian  folk. 

The  cedar  or  juniper  was  wonderful  because  it  was  ever  green;  unlike 
other  trees  it  appeared  indifferent  to  frost  and  to  heat,  but  alike  in  win- 
ter and  summer  retained  its  leaves.  Also  it  appeared  to  be  withdrawn, 
solitary  and  silent,  standing  dark  and  still,  like  an  Indian  standing  upon 
a  hill  with  his  robe  drawn  over  his  head  in  prayer  and  meditation.  Thus 
it  gave  the  suggestion,  and  had  the  appearance  of  being  in  communion 
with  the  High  Powers. 

Leaves  and  twigs  of  cedar  were  burned  as  incense  in  ceremonial  rit- 
uals in  order  that  evil  influences  might  be  driven  away. 

Willov/s  were  always  found  growing  along  watercourses,  as  though 
they  had  some  duty  or  function  in  the  world  in  connection  with  water, 
the  element  so  immediately  and  constantly  needful  to  man  and  to  all  other 
living  things.  Water  was  not  only  imperatively  necessary  for  vivifying 
and  reanimating  all  living  things,  but  was  an  active  agent  in  processes 
of  change  and  transmutation.  In  cases  of  disease  the  evil  influences 
which  plagued  the  body  might  be  driven  out  and  thus  health  might  be 
restored  through  the  use  of  water  transformed  into  vapor  by  means  of 
heat.  So  the  vapor  bath  was  used.  Also  if  a  man  contemplated  the 
undertaking  of  any  serious  project,  any  dangerous  mission,  or  any 
solemn  enterprise,  it  was  important  first  to  prepare  himself  by  purifica- 
tion, by  means  of  the  vapor  bath,  from  all  evil  influences.  The  frame- 
work of  the  vapor  bath  lodge  was  made  of  willow  poles,  bent  and  tied 
with  their  bark. 

[43] 


The  willow  was  also  mystically  connected  with  that  greatest  change 
of  all,  the  departure  of  the  spirit  from  the  body,  the  change  which  we 
call  death.    Willow  twigs  had  certain  uses  in  funeral  rites. 

The  Cottonwood  was  found  growing  over  a  widely  extended  range, 
under  diverse  climatic  conditions,  appearing  always  self-reliant,  showing 
prodigious  fecundity,  and  having  wonderful  means  of  propagation.  It 
provided  its  seed,  produced  in  enormous  number,  with  a  device  by  which 
they  traveled  on  the  wind  to  far  places  and  so  became  widely  dissemin- 
ated in  all  directions,  traveling  up-stream  or  down-stream,  and  even 
across  the  plains  and  prairies  to  other  streams  where  the  new  genera- 
tion might  establish  itself.  But  besides  this  iadmirable  provision  to 
insure  the  perpetuation  of  its  kind  it  had  also  another  means  of  propa- 
gation; though  by  this  means  it  could  move  only  down-stream.  This 
method  of  propagation  is  by  the  making  of  cuttings  or  planting  slips 
from  its  own  twigs.  It  is  well  known  that  the  gardener  may  make  arti- 
ficial cuttings  of  many  kinds  of  trees  and  plants,  and  so  increase  his 
stock.  But  the  cottonwood,  alone  among  trees,  performs  this  operation 
itself.  At  the  beginning  of  autumn  the  cottonwood  trees  form  layers 
of  cork  cells  which  gradually  wedge  off  part  of  its  twigs  from  the  parent 
branch,  thus  covering  and  healing  the  wound  of  separation  and  also 
covering  and  healing  the  base  of  the  separated  twig  so  that  it  falls  off 
alive  and  protected  from  loss  of  sap. 

Falling  thus  to  the  ground  just  about  the  time  that  autumn  rains  are 
about  to  begin,  they  are  ready  to  be  carried  away  by  the  rising  waters 
of  the  streams  and  may  be  thus  planted  in  a  mud  or  sand  bank  further 
down  stream,  ready  to  take  root  and  grow  in  the  springtime. 

In  the  springtime  the  opening  of  the  cottonwood  buds  and  pushing 
out  of  the  young  leaves,  even  when  chilly  nights  follow  the  bright 
breezy  days  and  the  rapid  growth  of  these  lustrous  leaves,  brightly 
dancing  in  the  spring  winds,  their  brilliant  sheen  and  active  movement 
reflecting  the  splendour  of  the  sun  like  the  dancing,  glinting  ripples  of 
a  lake,  suggest  the  joy  and  eagerness  and  energy  of  movement  of  all 
returning  life. 

The  foliage  of  the  cottonwood  is  peculiar  and  remarkable  so  that  it 
may  be  said  the  air  is  never  so  still  that  there  is  not  motion  of  cotton- 
wood leaves.  Even  in  still  and  sultry  summer  afternoons,  and  at  night 
when  all  else  was  still,  ever  they  could  hear  the  rustling  of  cottonwood 
leaves  by  the  passage  of  little  vagrant  currents  of  air.  Secret  messages 
seemed  ever  to  be  passing  in  soft  whispers  among  the  cottonwood  leaves. 
And  the  winds  themselves  are  the  bearers  of  the  messages  and  com- 
mands of  the  Higher  Powers,  so  there  was  constant  reminder  of  the 
mystic  character  of  this  tree. 

The  cottonwood  was,  among  trees,  the  symbol  of  fidelity,  one  of  the 
four  great  virtues  inculcated  by  the  ethical  code  of  the  people  of  the 
Dakota  nation. 

So  from  all  these  considerations,  it  might  be  expected  that  this  tree 
should  have  an  important  place  in  the  rituals  of  the  people  for  many 
generations  associated  with  it.    And  so  it  had. 

[44] 


The  Sacred  Pole  of  the  Omaha  nation  was  made  of  the  cottonwood. 
The  Sacred  Pole  was  an  object  of  the  greatest  veneration  to  the  people 
of  that  nation,  similarly  as  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  was  sacred  to  the 
Hebrew  nation. 

The  Sacred  Tree,  the  central  object  of  the  Sun  Dance,  the  most  mo- 
mentous religious  ritual  of  the  Dakota  nation,  was  a  cottonwood.  The 
tree  which  should  be  chosen  to  be  felled  and  brought  into  camp  and  set 
up  in  the  lodge  erected  for  the  performance  of  this  ritual,  must  be  a 
growing  cottonwood  tree,  the  base  of  whose  trunk  is  not  less  than  two 
spans  in  circumference.  The  tree  must  be  straight  and  forked  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  ground  of  about  four  times  the  measure  of  the  outstretched 
arms  from  band  to  hand. 

Twigs  and  bark  of  cottonwood  were  burned  as  incense  to  ward 
against  the  scheming  of  Anog  Ite,  the  spiteful  malevolent  being  who 
foments  scandals,  strife  and  infidelity. 

Such  then,  were  some  of  the  relations  in  the  philosophic  thought, 
the  religious  conceptions  and  the  sentiments  of  the  people  of  the  Dakota 
nation  In  regard  to  these  three  species  of  trees. 


THE  SONG  OF  THE  PASQUE  FLOWER 
The  pasque  flower  (Pulsatilla  patens),  has  a  very  extensive  range 
upon  the  northern  prairies,  reaching  from  about  latitude  43  degrees 
north  to  the  Great  Slave  Lake  above  60  degrees  north  latitude.  It  is  the 
earliest  flower  to  put  forth  its  blossoms  in  the  springtime,  often  appear- 
ing before  all  the  snow  is  gone.  Its  bluish  purple  flowers  gladden  the  bare 
brown  hillsides  with  great  profusion  of  bloom,  an  earnest  of  returning 
life.  For  this  reason  it  has  a  strong  hold  upon  the  affections  of  all  the 
native  tribes  throughout  all  its  extended  range.  The  plant  is  closely  re- 
lated to  the  anemone,  which  is  sometimes  called  the  wind  flower. 

The  people  of  the  Dakota  nation  have  a  number  of  pretty  little  folk 
stories  concerning  the  pasque  flower.  One  story  is  that  in  the  long  ago, 
whenever  any  of  the  people  happened  to  pass  by  where  these  flowers  were 
blooming  they  tried  to  show  the  friendliness  which  they  felt  for  human 
beings  by  nodding  their  heads  in  the  chilly  spring  wind,  showing  their 
smiling  faces  and  saying,  "Good  morning!  Good  morning!"  But  the 
people  passed  them  unheeding.  They  became  abashed  at  this  indiffer- 
ence, so  nowadays  still  feeling  friendly  towards  the  people  in  spite  of 
such  rebuffs,  they  bashfully  turn  their  heads  to  one  side  as  they  nod  and 
call  their  kindly  greetings  in  their  sweet  low  voice. 

There  is  another  pretty  conceit  connected  with  the  pasque  flower. 
Indians  generally  are  keenly  observant  of  all  things  in  nature,  and  rever- 
ent towards  them.  They  feel  reverence  for  all  living  creatures,  whether 
plant  or  animal.  They  have  songs  and  stories  about  most  of  the  species 
of  plants  and  animals  with  which  they  are  acquainted,  the  specific  song 
being  the  expression  of  the  life  or  soul  of  the  species  to  which  it  per- 
tains. The  song  of  the  pasque  flower,  translated  out  of  the  Dakota 
language  into  English  runs  something  like  this: 

[45] 


"I  -wish  to  encourage  the  children  of  other  flower  nations 
Which  are  now  appearing  over  all  the  land; 
So  while  they  waken  from  sleep  and  rise  from  the  bosom 
Of  Mother  Earth,  I  stand  here  old  and  gray-headed." 

The  saying:  "I  wish  to  encourage  the  children  of  other  flower  na- 
tions," refers  to  the  very  early  prevernal  blossoming  of  this  plant  and 
its  consequent  ripening  while  the  other  flower  species  (nations)  are  just 


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■j'            /           /  ~""***-_  /      '^CClv — ''*-  -j^— —Tr ' 

vf 

Aap  of  Geographical  Distribution  of  Pasque  Flower 

peeping  through  the  ground.  The  entire  plant  is  hairy,  and  when  ma- 
ture its  seed  head  is  plumose  and  white,  similar  to  the  clematis  head, 
suggesting  the  head  of  a  very  old  man  with  long  white  hair.  This  ex- 
plains the  allusion  in  "I  stand  here  old  and  gray-headed." 

When  in  springtime  an  old  man  of  the  Dakota  nation  first  finds 
one  of  these  flowers  it  reminds  him  of  his  childhood,  when  he  wandered 

[46] 


over  the  hills  at  play  as  free  from  sorrow  and  care  as  the  birds  and  the 
flowers.  He  sits  down  near  the  flower,  upon  the  lap  of  Mother  Earth, 
takes  out  his  pipe  and  fills  it  with  tobacco.  Then  he  reverently  holds  the 
pipe  towards  the  earth,  then  towards  the  sky,  then  towards  the  north, 
the  east,  the  south  and  the  west.  After  this  act  of  silent  invocation  and 
thanksgiving,  he  smokes.  Tobacco  was  sacred  and  was  used  ceremonially 
as  an  incense.  The  pipe  was  therefore  a  sort  of  censer,  and  was  accord- 
ingly treated  with  respect  and  reverence.  In  smoking,  Indians  did  not 
seize  the  pipestem  in  the  teeth.  Such  an  act  would  be  sacrilegious.  The 
mouthpiece  of  the  pipestem  was  gently  presented  to  the  lips  and  the 
breath  drawn  through.  By  this  inspiration  the  smoker  united  the 
mystery  of  the  tobacco,  the  mystery  of  fire  and  the  mystery  of  the 
breath  of  life. 

While  the  old  man  sits  by  the  flower  and  smokes  he  meditates  upon 
all  the  changing  scenes  of  his  lifetime;  his  joys  and  sorrows,  his  youth- 
ful hopes,  his  accomplishments,  his  disappointments,  and  upon  the  guid- 
ance of  the  Unseen  Powers  accorded  to  him  thus  far  upon  the  journey 
of  life,  and  he  is  encouraged  to  believe  that  he  will  be  guided  to  the  end 
of  life's  journey  "beyond  the  fourth  hill"  of  life;  as  he  has  been  guided 
over  the  hill  of  childhood,  the  hill  of  youth,  and  the  hill  of  manhood's 
prime,  that  he  will  also  be  guided  over  the  last  hill,  the  hill  of  old  age. 

After  finishing  his  pipe  he  empties  the  ashes  reverently  upon  the 
ground  near  the  pasque  flower  which  he  has  been  contemplating.  Then 
he  rises  and  plucks  the  flower  prayerfully  and  carries  it  carefully  home 
to  show  to  his  grandchildren,  singing  as  he  goes,  the  song  of  the  pasque 
flower,  which  he  learned  as  a  child  and  which  he  now  teaches  to  his 
grandchildren,  commending  to  them  the  example  of  the  flower  in  its 
courage  and  endurance  and  its  faithfulness. 

THE  SONG  OF  THE  PASQUE  FLOWER 

By  Rev.  Ignatius  Forster,  O.  S.  B. 

Mount  Marty,  Yankton,  South  Dakota. 

February  1,  1921. 

Lovely  Pasque  Flower,  Slowly  they  waken, 

Herald   of   Spring,  Lowly  they  sigh: 

Proclaiming  the  hour,  "Wasn't  that  beckon 

Gladly  to  sing.  Pasque  Flower's  cry?" 

Gently  thou  greetest  They  rise  in  raiments 

The  wintry  sun;  Of  colors  bright; 

Boldly  thou  peepest  Pasque  Flower's  garments 

If  snow  is  gone.  Are  hoary  white. 

Callest  thy  playmates  Noble  thy  preaching. 

Who  still  do  sleep:  Pasque  flower  brave; 

"Arise,  lo,  spring  waits !  "Work,"  is  thy  teaching. 

No  longer  weep."  "Unto  the  grave." 

Lovely  Pasque  Flower, 
Herald  of  Spring 
Proclaiming  the  hour 
To  work  and  sing. 

Father  Forster  was  moved  to  write  this  delightful  little  song  upon 
reading  one  evening,  (February  1,  1921),  the  foregoing  prose  account  of 
i;he  Dakota  (Sioux)  Song  of  the  Pasque  Flower  or  Hoksi-Cekpa  Wahca. 

[47] 


THE  PRAIRIE  ROSE 

The  prairie  was  gray  and  drab,  no  beautiful  flowers  brightened  it, 
it  had  only  dull  greenish-gray  herbs  and  grasses,  and  Mother  Earth's 
heart. was  sad  because  her  robe  was  lacking  in  beauty  and  brightness. 
Then  the  Holy  Earth,  our  mother,  sighed  and  said,  "Ah,  my  robe  is  not 
beautiful,  it  is  sombre  and  dull.  I  wish  it  might  be  bright  and  beautiful 
with  flowers  and  splendid  with  color.  I  have  many  beautiful,  sweet  and 
dainty  flowers  in  my  heart.  I  wish  to  have  them  upon  my  robe.  I  wish 
to  have  upon  my  robe  flowers  blue  like  the  clear  sky  in  fair  weather. 
I  wish  also  to  have  flowers  white  like  the  pure  snow  of  winter  and 
like  the  high  white  cloudlets  of  a  quiet  summer  day.  I  wish  also  to 
have  brilliant  yellow  flowers  like  the  splendor  of  the  sun  at  noon  of  a 
summer  day.  And  I  wish  to  have  delicate  pink  flowers  like  the  color  of 
the  dawn  light  of  a  joyous  day  in  springtime.  I  would  also  have  flowers 
red  like  the  clouds  at  evening  when  the  sun  is  going  down  below  the 
western  edge  of  the  world.  All  these  beautiful  flowers  are  in  my  heart, 
but  I  am  sad  when  I  look  upon  my  old  dull,  gray  and  brown  robe. 

Then  a  sweet  little  pink  flower  said,  "Do  not  grieve  mother,  I  will  go 
up  upon  your  robe  and  beautify  it."  So  the  little  pink  flower  came  up 
from  the  heart  of  Mother  Earth  to  be  upon  the  sad  prairie  of  her 
mother's  robe. 

Now  when  the  Wind  Demon  saw  the  pink  flower  there  he  said,  "Indeed 
she  is  pretty,  but  I  will  not  have  her  trespassing  in  my  playground."  So 
the  Wind  Demon  rushed  at  her  shouting  and  roaring  and  blew  out  her 
life,  but  her  spirit  returned  to  the  heart  of  Mother  Earth. 

And  when  the  other  flowers  ventured,  one  after  another  to  come  out 
upon  the  prairie  which  w^as  Mother  Earth's  robe,  the  Wind  Demon  de- 
stroyed them  also  and  their  spirits  returned  to  the  heart  of  Holy  Mother 
Earth. 

At  last  Prairie  Rose  offered  to  go  and  brighten  the  appearance  of 
Mother  Earth's  robe,  the  prairie.  Mother  Earth  said  fondly,  "Yes,  dear, 
sweet  child,  I  will  let  you  go.  You  are  so  lovely  and  your  breath  is  so 
sweet,  it  may  be  that  the  Wind  Demon  will  be  charmed  by  you,  and 
that  he  will  let  you  remain  on  his  ground."  And  Prairie  Rose  said,  "Yes, 
dear  mother,  I  will  go,  for  I  desire  that  my  mother's  robe  shall  be  beau- 
tiful. But  if  the  Wind  Demon  should  blow  out  my  life  my  spirit  shall 
return  home  to  the  heart  of  my  mother." 

So  Prairie  Rose  made  the  toilsome  journey  up  through  the  dark  ground 
and  came  out  upon  the  sad  gray  prairie.  And  as  she  was  going  Mother 
Earth  said  in  her  heart,  "Oh,  I  hope  the  Wind  Demon  will  allow  her  to 
live  for  I  wish  my  robe  to  be  beautiful!" 

Now  when  the  Wind  Demon  saw  Prairie  Rose  he  rushed  at  her  shout- 
ing and  said,  "Indeed,  though  she  is  pretty  I  shall  not  allow  her  to  be 
upon  my  ground.  I  will  blow  out  her  life."  So  he  came  on  roaring  and 
drawing  his  breath  in  strong  gusts.  Just  then  he  caught  the  fragrance 
of  the  breath  of  Prairie  Rose.  "Ah,"  he  said,  "how  sweet  her  breath  is! 
Why,  I  do  not  have  it  in  my  heart  to  blow  out  the  life  of  such  a  beautiful 
little  maiden  whose  breath  is  so  sweet!    I  love  her.    She  shall  stay  here 

[48] 


with  me.  And  I  must  make  my  voice  gentle  and  sing  a  melodious  song, 
for«J  wish  not  to  frighten  her  with  my  awful  noise." 

So  he  became  quiet  and  breathed  gentle  breezes  which  passed  over 
the  prairie  grasses  whispering  and  humming  little  songs  of  gladness. 

Then  the  other  flowers  also  came  up  through  the  dark  ground  and 
out  upon  the  dull,  gray  prairie  and  made  it  bright  and  joyous  with  their 
presence.    And  the  wind  came  to  love  all  the  flowers  and  the  grasses. 

And  so  the  robe  of  our  Mother  Earth  became  beautiful  because  of  the 
loveliness  and  the  sweet  breath  of  the  Prairie  Rose. 

Sometimes  the  Wind  forgets  his  gentle  songs  and  becomes  loud  and 
boisterous,  but  he  does  not  harm  a  person  whose  robe  is  ornamented  with 
the  color  of  Prairie  Rose. 


THE  SONG  OF  THE  WILD  ROSE 

The  following  is  a  translation  into  English  out  of  the  Dakota 
language  by  Dr.  A.  McG.  Beede,  of  an  old  Dakota  song.  The  people  of 
the  Dakota  nation,  and  other  tribes  also,  think  of  the  various  plant  and 
animal  species  as  having  each  their  own  songs.  With  these  people  music, 
song,  is  an  expression  of  the  soul  and  not  a  mere  artistic  or  artful 
exercise. 

Where  the  word  "Mother"  appears  in  the  following  song  it  refers  to 
"Mother  Earth,"  a  living,  conscious,  holy  being  in  Indian  thought.  The 
earth  was  truly  venerated  and  loved  by  these  people,  who  considered 
themselves  not  as  owners  or  potential  owners  of  any  part  of  the  land, 
but  as  being  owned  by  the  land  which  gave  them  birth  and  which  supplied 
their  physical  needs  from  her  bounty  and  satisfied  their  love  of  the 
beautiful  by  the  beauty  of  her  face  in  the  landscape. 

The  trilled  musical  syllables  at  the  close  of  the  last  two  stanzas 
express  the  spontaneous  joy  which  comes  to  a  person  who  has  "life-appre- 
ciation of  Holy  Earth." 

The  first  stanza  is  an  introduction  by  the  narrator;  not  a  part  of 
the  "Song  of  the  Wild  Rose."  The  remaining  stanzas  are  the  song  itself, 
of  the  Wild  Rose. 

I  will  tell  you  of  something  I  know, 
And  you  can't  half  imagine  how  good; 
It's  the  song  of  wild  roses  that  grow 
In  the  land  the  Dakota-folk  love. 

From  the  heart  of  the  Mother  we  come. 
The  kind  Mother  of  Life  and  of  All; 
And  if  ever  you  think  she  is  dumb, 
You  should  know  that  flowers  are  her  songs. 

And  all  creatures  that  live  are  her  songs. 
And  all  creatures  that  die  are  her  songs. 
And  the  winds  blowing  by  are  her  songs. 
And  she  wants  you  to  sing  all  her  songs. 

Like  the  purple  in  Daydawn  we  come. 
And  our  hearts  are  so  brimful  of  joy 
That  whene'er  we're  not  singing  we  hum 
Ti-li-li-li-i,  ta-la-la-loo,  ta-la-la-loo! 

[49] 


When  a  maiden  is  ready  to  wed 
Pin  wild  roses  all  over  her  dress, 
And  a  rose  in  the  hair  of  her  head; 
Put  new  moccasins  onto  her  feet. 

Then  the  heart  of  the  Mother  will  give 
Her  the  songs  of  her  own  heart  to  sing; 
And  she'll  sing  all  the  moons  she  may  live, 
Ti-li-li-li-i,  ta-la-la-loo,  ta-la-la-loo! 


USE  OF  THE  GROUND  BEAN  BY  INDIANS 

There  is  a  native  wild  bean  found  growing  over  an  area  of  wide  dis- 
tribution in  North  America.  The  botanical  name  of  this  bean  is  Falcata 
comosa.  In  the  Dakota  language  it  is  called  maka  ta  omnicha,  which 
means  "bean  of  the  earth;"  in  the  Pawnee  language  it  is  called  ati-kuraru, 
which  means  "earth  bean."  The  plant  grows  in  dense  masses  over 
shrubbery  and  other  vegetation  in  some  places,  especially  along  banks 
and  at  the  edge  of  timber. 

It  forms  two  kinds  of  branches,  bearing  two  forms  of  flower,  pro- 
ducing two  forms  of  fruits.  Leafy  branches  climb  up  over  the  shrub- 
bery, but  under  these,  in  the  shade,  prostrate  on  the  earth,  starting  out 
from  the  base  of  the  main  stem,  are  leafless,  colorless  branches,  form- 
ing a  network  on  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  tiny  inconspicuous 
blossoms  borne  on  these  prostrate  branches  are  self-pollinated  and  push 
into  the  leaf  mold  and  soft  soil,  and  there  each  produces  a  single  large 
bean  closely  clothed  by  a  thin  filmy  pod  or  husk.  These  beans  which 
are  formed  in  the  earth  are  about  the  size  of  Lima  beans.  Upon  the  up- 
per, leafy  branches  are  borne  showy,  purplish  flowers  appearing  like 
small  bean  blossoms.  From  these  blossoms  are  produced  small  bean  pods 
about  a  half  inch  to  an  inch  in  length.  These  pods  contain  each  from 
three  to  four  or  five  small,  hard,  mottled  beafts  about  an  eighth  of  an 
inch  long. 

The  large  beans  produced  in  the  ground  are  desirable  for  food.  They 
are  of  good  flavor  when  cooked.  The  small  beans  of  the  upper  branches 
are  also  good  for  food,  but  they  are  so  small  and  difficult  to  harvest  that 
not  much  use  is  made  of  them  by  the  people.  The  large  beans  formed  in 
the  earth  would  also  be  hard  to  gather  but  for  the  help  of  certain  little 
animals  called  voles,  or  wood  mice,  or  bean  mice.  The  voles  dig  the 
large  beans  and  store  them  in  considerable  quantities  in  storage  places 
which  they  hollow  out  in  the  ground  and  which  they  cover  over  with 
sticks  and  leaves  and  earth.  In  these  places  the  little  animals  put  away 
sometimes  a  peck  or  a  half  bushel  of  beans. 

Through  all  the  extensive  range  of  Falcata  comosa,  the  ground-bean, 
it  was  sought  by  the  people  of  the  various  Indian  tribes  to  add  to  their 
food  supply.  The  people  said  they  did  not  take  away  all  the  beans  from 
the  voles  as  it  would  be  wicked  to  loot  the  animals'  food  stores  and  leave 
the  animals  to  starve  after  they  had  worked  to  gather  them.  But  they 
would  take  a  part  of  the  store,  in  a  manner  making  themselves  beggars 
to  the  little  animals.  The  Omahas  have  a  saying  that  "The  bean  mouse 
is  a  very  industrious  fellow,  he  even  helps  human  beings." 

[50] 


But  in  all  accounts  I  have  had  from  the  people  of  the  Dakota  nation 
the.  women  have  always  said  that  they  never  took  away  any  beans  from 
the  voles  without  making  some  payment  in  kind.  They  said  it  would  be 
wicked  and  unjust  to  take  the  beans  from  the  animals  and  give  nothing 
in  return.  So  they  said  they  always  put  back  some  com,  some  suet, 
or  some  other  food  material  in  exchange  for  the  beans  they  took  out.  In 
that  way  they  said  both  they  and  the  little  animals  obtained  a  variety 
in  their  food  supply.  They  said  they  thought  it  very  wrong  to  deprive 
the  animals  of  their  store  without  such  payment,  but  that  it  was  fair  if 
they  gave  a  fair  exchange. 

The  people  of  the  Dakota  nation  speak  of  the  wood-mice  or  voles 
by  the  designation  of  "Hintunka  people."  In  the  Dakota  theory  of  the 
universe  they  personify  the  maternal  power  and  spirit  by  the  name 
Hunka.  Hunka  is  the  mystic  All-Mother  in  nature,  the  mother  of  all  liv- 
ing beings,  plant  or  animal,  which  of  course  includes  mankind.  For 
they  do  not  think  of  mankind  as  being  apart  from  nature  and  the  com- 
munity of  life  in  the  world. 

The  Dakotas  have  a  moral  story  which  is  told  as  follows: 

A  certain  woman  went  and  plundered  the  store-house  of  some  Hin- 
tunka  people.  She  robbed  them  of  their  entire  food  supply  without  even 
giving  them  anything  at  all  in  return.  The  next  night  this  woman  who 
had  robbed  the  Hintunka  people  of  all  their  food  supply  heard  a  woman 
dovm  in  the  woods  crying  and  saying  "Oh,  what  will  my  poor  children 
do?"  It  was  the  voice  of  one  of  the  Hintunka  women  crying  over  her 
hungry  children. 

The  same  night  the  woman  who  had  done  the  wrong  had  a  dream.  In 
her  dreams  Hunka  appeared  to  her  and  said  "You  should  not  have  taken 
the  food  from  the  Hintunka  people.  Take  back  the  food  to  them,  or  else 
your  own  children  shall  cry  for  food." 

The  next  morning  the  woman  told  her  husband  what  Hunka  had 
said  to  her.  Her  husband  said  "You  would  better  do  as  Hunka  tells 
you  to  do."  But  the  woman  was  hard-hearted  and  perverse  and  would 
not  restore  to  the  Hintunka  people  the  food  of  which  she  had  robbed 
them,  neither  would  she  give  them  anything  in  exchange. 

A  short  time  after  this  a  great  prairie  fire  came,  driven  by  a  strong 
wind,  and  swept  over  the  place  where  this  unjust  woman  and  her  family 
were  camping.  The  fire  burned  up  her  tipi  and  everything  it  contained, 
and  they  barely  escaped  with  their  lives.  They  had  no  food  nor  shelter 
and  they  had  to  wander  on  the  prairie  destitute. 

The  bean-mouse  and  its  works  are  regarded  with  respect,  admiration 
and  reverence  by  the  people  of  the  various  Indian  tribes  which  benefit 
by  its  labor.  They  feel  very  resentful  towards  any  seeming  tendency 
to  meddle  unwarrantedly  with  its  winter  store-houses.  Upon  hearing  of 
the  desire  of  a  white  man  to  make  a  photograph  of  such  a  store-house  an 
old  man  of  the  Teton-Dakota  on  the  Standing  Rock  Reservation  ex- 
pressed bitter  resentment  and  declared  himself  ready  to  fight  to  prevent 
such  a  thing  from  being  done.  He  said  "We  have  enough  misfortune 
already,  counting  the  war  and  the  epidemic  of  influenza,  without  inviting 
further  disaster  by  such  sacrilege." 

[51] 


In  the  month  of  November,  after  the  bean  mice  have  harvested  their 
beans  and  laid  them  up  in  their  store-houses  for  the  winter,  the  people 
often  go  out  alone  and  sit  near  some  such  store-house  in  silent  meditation 
on  the  ways  of  Providence.  At  that  time  of  the  year  the  missionaries 
and  priests  are  often  pained  and  puzzled  because  of  the  absence  of  some 
of  their  church  members  from  Sunday  service  or  from  mass  on  Sunday 
morning.  They  do  not  know,  and  likely  would  not  appreciate  or  under- 
stand the  feeling  which  has  caused  these  people  to  go  out  at  such  a 
time,  not  to  the  church  but  out  to  the  quiet  place  under  the  open  heaven 
where  they  sit  upon  the  lap  of  Mother  Earth  to  reverently  and  thank- 
fully meditate  upon  the  mysteries  of  nature  and  the  wonderful  provisions 
of  God  in  nature. 

At  such  times  they  like  to  bring  in  to  their  homes  or  to  their 
churches  some  object  connected  with  the  bean  mouse  and  his  marvelous 
ways  and  work.  If  they  find  some  beans  which  the  bean  mouse  has 
spilled  in  transportation  to  his  store-house,  or  a  tree-leaf  which  they 
suppose  he  has  used  as  his  sled  for  carrying  his  beans  from  field  to  store- 
house, they  will  bring  in  such  objects  and  lay  them  up  reverently  in  the 
home  or  in  the  church  with  devout  regard  for  prayerful  meditation.  In- 
dians say  that  the  bean  mouse  uses  a  leaf  of  the  boxelder  tree,  or  some- 
times another  kind  of  leaf  of  suitable  shape,  as  a  sled  for  gathering  his 
stores. 

At  one  time  an  old  blind  man  of  the  Teton  Dakota  on  the  Standing 
Rock  Reservation  on  the  upper  Missouri  River  went  out  to  the  vicinity 
of  a  vole's  store-house  to  meditate  and  pray.  A  man  saw  him  and 
quietly  approached  within  hearing  distance.  As  the  old  man  was 
blind  he  did  not  perceive  the  approach  of  the  observer.  Thinking  him- 
self alone  in  the  presence  of  the  powers  of  nature,  this  devout  old  man, 
gave  expression  to  his  religious  feeling  in  the  following  prayer: 

"Thou  who  art  holy,  pity  me  and  help  me  I  pray.  Thou  art  small,  but 
thou  art  sufficiently  large  for  thy  place  in  the  world.  And  thou  art  suf- 
ficiently strong  also  for  thy  work,  for  Holy  Wakantanka  constantly 
strengthens  thee.  Thou  art  wise,  for  the  wisdom  of  holiness  is  with 
Thee  constantly. 

"May  I  be  wise  in  all  my  heart  continually,  for  if  an  attitude  of 
holy  wisdom  leads  me  on,  then  this  shadow-troubled  life  shall  come  into 
constant  light." 


TIPSIN:  AN  IMPORTANT  NATIVE  FOOD  PLANT 

Over  all  the  dry  prairies  of  the  Great  Plains  region  there  grows  a 
plant  (Psoralea  esculenta),  which  was  an  important  item  of  the  food 
supplies  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  region.  It  is  a  species  which  belongs 
botanically  to  the  Bean  Family.  The  part  used  for  food  is  the  large  root, 
which  is  stored  with  proteid  and  starchy  matter.  The  root  is  about  the 
size  of  a  hen's  egg.  The  stem  of  the  plant  is  bushy  and  branched;  the 
leaves  are  trifoliate.  The  leaves  and  stems  of  the  plant  are  hairy,  giving 
it  a  grayish-green  appearance.  The  flowers  are  set  in  close  racemes  at 
the  ends  of  the  branches,  and  are  bluish  in  color  and  of  bean  blossom 
shape. 

[52] 


In  the  journals  of  the  early  travellers  mention  of  this  plant  is  often 
fodnd  under  the  name  of  "pomme  blanche"  or  "pomme  de  prairie,"  the 
name  by  which  the  French  traders  and  trappers  called  it,  for  they 
learned  to  live  upon  the  native  products  of  the  land.  English  speaking 
people  coming  later,  and  depending  not  so  much  on  native  products,  did 
not  supply  names  for  them,  not  considering  them  of  enough  importance. 
The  name  which  I  have  given  it  for  a  common  English  name  is  an  ap- 
proximation to,  and  an  adaptation  of  the  name  of  this  plant  in  the  Da- 
kota language. 

Tipsin  roots  are  gathered  in  June  or  early  July.  They  were  used  fresh 
when  gathered,  and  they  were  also  gathered  in  quantity  and  peeled  and 
dried  for  future  use.  The  women  gathered  them  by  the  use  of  digging 
sticks.  They  had  their  children  with  them  to  look  for  the  plants  while 
they  dug  them.  Because  of  the  branching  habit  of  the  plant  the  mother 
would  say  to  her  children,  "See,  they  point  to  each  other.  Now  here  is 
one,  notice  the  directions  in  which  its  arms  point  and  you  will  find 
others."  So  the  children  would  start,  each  in  the  direction  of  one  of  the 
branches,  and  of  course,  if  they  followed  in  any  direction  and  kept  close 
watch  they  would  find  another.  The  idea  of  the  plants  pointing  to  each 
other  kept  the  children's  attention  fixed. 


HOW  THE  PEOPLE  OBTAINED  THE  PRECIOUS 
GIFT  OF  CORN 

All  the  tribes  which  cultivated  corn  had  legends  accounting  for  its 
acquisition.  Many  of  these  are  very  interesting  and  beautiful.  In  the 
Sacred  Legends  of  the  Omaha,  of  which  account  is  given  in  "The  Omaha 
Tribe,"  Twenty-seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Eth- 
nology, by  Alice  Fletcher  and  Francis  La  Flesche,  occurs  the  following 
legend  of  the  finding  of  com: 

"Then  a  man  in  wandering  about  found  some  kernels,  blue,  and  red, 
and  white.  He  thought  he  had  secured  something  of  great  value,  so  he 
concealed  them  in  a  mound.  One  day  he  thought  he  would  go  to  see  if 
they  were  safe.  When  he  came  to  the  mound  he  found  it  covered  with 
stalks  having  ears  bearing  kernels  of  these  colours.  He  took  an  ear  of  each 
kind  and  gave  the  rest  to  the  people  to  experiment  with.  They  tried  it 
for  food,  found  it  good,  and  ever  since  have  called  it  their  life.  As  soon 
as  the  people  found  the  corn  good,  they  thought  to  make  mounds  like 
that  in  which  the  kernels  had  been  hid.  So  they  took  the  shoulder  blade 
of  an  elk  and  built  mounds  like  the  first  and  buried  the  corn  in  them.  So 
the  corn  grew  and  the  people  had  abundant  food." 

While  the  legend  does  not  designate  what  tribe  it  was  which  first 
obtained  corn,  it  is  probably  to  be  identified  with  the  following  fuller 
account  which  is  also  told  in  the  Omaha  Sacred  Legends,  and  which  re- 
cites that  they  first  learned  of  com  and  obtained  seed  of  it  from  the 
Arikara.  The  story  tells  how  the  Arikara  first  obtained  com  by  divine 
favour,  and  then  how  they  gave  it  to  other  tribes,  among  these  fortunate 
ones  being  the  Omaha.  It  should  be  remembered  that  at  the  time  the 
Omaha    came     to    where     they    now     reside     and    have     resided    for 

[53] 


some  centuries,  the  Arikara  were  in  the  region  of  what  is  now  northern 
Nebraska,  so  they  were  then  neighbors  of  the  Omaha.  No  doubt  the 
declaration  of  the  legend  that  the  Omahas  did  first  obtain  com  from 
the  Arikara  is  based  on  fact,  in  that  com  culture  among  the  Omaha 
had  been  borrowed  from  the  Arikara,  who  later  migrated  farther  north 
along  the  upper  Missouri  River. 
The  story  runs  thus: 

"The  Arikara  were  the  first  to  obtain  the  maize.  A  young  man 
went  out  hunting.  He  came  to  a  high  hill,  and,  looking  down  upon  a 
valley,  he  saw  a  buffalo  bull  standing  in  the  middle  of  a  bottom  land 
lying  between  two  rivers  at  their  confluence.  As  the  young  man 
searched  the  surroundings  to  find  how  he  might  approach  the  buffalo  he 
was  impressed  with  the  beauty  of  the  landscape.  The  banks  of  the  two 
rivers  were  low  and  well  timbered.  He  observed  that  the  buffalo  stood 
facing  north;  he  saw  also  that  he  could  not  approach  from  any  side  with- 
in bowshot.  He  thought  that  the  only  way  to  get  a  chance  to  shoot  the 
buffalo  would  be  to  wait  until  the  animal  moved  close  to  the  banks  of 
one  of  the  rivers,  or  to  the  hills  where  there  were  ravines  and  shrubs.  So 
the  young  man  waited.  The  sun  went  down  and  the  buffalo  had  not 
moved;  the  young  man  went  home  disappointed.  He  lay  awake  nearly  all 
night  brooding  over  his  disappointment,  for  food  had  become  scarce  and 
the  buffalo  would  have  afforded  a  good  supply.  Before  dawn  the  young 
man  arose  and  hastened  to  the  place  where  he  had  discovered  the  buffalo 
to  see  whether  the  animal  might  be  somewhere  near,  if  it  had  moved. 
Just  as  he  reached  the  summit  of  the  hill,  where  he  was  the  day  before, 
the  sun  arose,  and  he  saw  that  the  buffalo  was  in  the  same  spot.  But 
he  noticed  that  it  was  now  facing  toward  the  east.  Again  the  young 
man  waited  for  the  animal  to  move,  but  again  the  sun  went  down  while 
the  buffalo  remained  standing  in  the  same  spot.  The  hunter  went  home 
and  passed  another  restless  night.  He  started  out  again  before  dawn  and 
came  to  the  top  of  the  hill  just  as  the  sun  arose,  and  saw  the  buffalo  in 
the  same  place  still,  but  it  had  now  turned  to  face  the  south.  The  young 
man  waited  and  watched  all  day,  but  when  darkness  came  he  once 
more  had  to  go  away  disappointed.  He  passed  another  sleepless  night. 
His  desire  to  secure  game  was  mixed  with  curiosity  to  know  why  the 
buffalo  should  so  persistently  remain  in  that  one  spot  without  eating  or 
drinking  or  lying  down  to  rest.  He  rose  upon  the  fourth  morning  before 
dawn,  his  mind  occupied  with  this  curiosity,  and  made  haste  to  reach 
the  hill  to  see  if  the  buffalo  still  stood  in  the  same  place.  Morning  light 
had  come  when  he  arrived  at  the  hill,  and  he  saw  that  the  buffalo  was 
standing  in  exactly  the  same  place,  but  had  turned  around  to  face  the 
west.  He  was  determined  now  to  know  what  the  animal  would  do,  so  he 
settled  down  to  watch  as  he  had  throughout  the  three  previous  days.  He 
now  began  to  think  that  the  animal  was  acting  in  this  manner  under  the 
influence  of  some  unseen  power  for  some  mysterious  purpose,  and  that 
he,  as  well  as  the  buffalo,  was  controlled  by  the  same  influence.  Dark- 
ness again  came  upon  him  and  the  animal  was  still  standing  in  the  same 
position.  The  young  man  returned  home,  but  he  was  kept  awake  all 
night  by  his  thoughts  and  wondering  what  would  come  of  this  strange 

[54] 


experience.  He  rose  before  dawn  and  hastened  again  to  the  mysterious 
scegie.  As  he  reached  the  summit  of  the  hill  dawn  spread  across  all  the 
land.  Eagerly  he  looked.  The  buffalo  was  gone!  But  just  where  the 
buffalo  had  been  standing  there  appeared  something  like  a  small  bush. 
The  young  man  now  approached  the  spot  with  a  feeling  of  curiosity  and 
of  awe,  but  also  something  of  disappointment.  As  soon  as  he  came  near 
he  saw  that  what  had  appeared  from  a  distance  like  a  small  bush  was 
a  strange  unknown  plant.  He  looked  upon  the  ground  and  saw  the 
tracks  cf  the  buffalo;  he  observed  that  they  turned  from  the  north  to 
the  east,  and  to  the  south,  and  to  the  west;  and  in  the  centre  there  was 
but  one  buffalo  track,  and  out  of  it  had  sprung  this  strange  plant.  He 
examined  the  ground  all  around  the  plant  to  find  where  the  buffalo  had 
left  the  place,  but  there  were  no  other  footprints  except  those  he  had 
already  seen  near  the  plant.  He  made  haste  to  reach  his  home  village. 
There  he  notified  the  chiefs  and  elders  of  his  people  concerning  the 
strange  experience  which  he  had  had.  Led  by  the  young  man  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  place  of  the  buffalo  and  examined  the  ground  with  care,  and 
found  that  what  he  had  told  them  was  true.  They  found  the  tracks  of 
the  buffalo  where  he  had  stood  and  where  he  had  turned,  but  could  find 
no  trace  of  his  coming  to  the  place  nor  of  his  going  from  it.  Now  while 
all  these  men  believed  that  this  plant  had  been  given  to  the  people  in  this 
mysterious  manner  by  Wakanda  for  their  use,  still  they  were  not  sure 
what  that  use  might  be  nor  in  what  manner  it  should  be  used.  The 
people  knew  of  other  plants  that  were  useful  for  food,  and  the  season  for 
their  ripening,  and,  believing  that  the  fruit  of  this  strange  plant  would 
ripen  in  its  proper  time,  they  arranged  to  guard  and  protect  it  carefully, 
awaiting  with  patience  the  time  of  its  ripening  and  further  revelation 
of  its  purpose. 

"After  a  time  a  spike  of  flowers  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  plant,  but 
from  their  knowledge  of  other  plants  they  knew  that  the  blossom  was 
but  the  flower  and  not  the  fruit.  But  while  they  watched  this  blossom, 
expecting  it  to  develop  into  fruit,  as  they  expected  it  would,  a  new  growth 
appeared  from  the  joints  of  the  plant.  They  now  gave  special  attention 
to  the  new  growth.  It  grew  larger,  and  finally  something  appeared  at 
the  top  which  looked  like  hair.  This,  in  the  course  of  time,  turned  from 
pale  green  to  dark  brown,  and  after  much  discussion  the  people  con- 
cluded that  this  growth  at  the  side  of  the  plant  was  its  fruit,  and  that  it 
had  ripened.  Until  this  time  no  one  had  dared  to  approach  within  touch  of 
the  plant.  Although  they  were  anxious  to  know  the  uses  to  which  the 
plant  could  be  put,  or  for  which  it  was  intended,  no  one  dared  to  touch  it. 
While  the  people  were  assembled  around  the  plant  uncertain  and  unde- 
termined how  to  approach  the  examination  of  it  to  learn  its  possible 
use,  a  youth  stepped  forward  and  spoke: 

"  'Every  one  knows  how  my  life  from  childhood  has  been  worse  than 
useless,  that  my  life  among  you  has  been  more  evil  than  good.  There- 
fore, since  no  one  would  regret,  should  any  evil  befall  me,  let  me  be  the 
first  to  touch  this  plant  and  taste  of  its  fruit,  so  that  you  may  not  suffer 
any  harm  and  that  you  may  learn  if  the  plant  possesses  qualities  which 
may  be  for  our     good.'     When  the  people  gave  their  assent  the  youth 

[55] 


stepped  forward  and  placed  his  hands  over  the  top  of  the  plant  and 
brought  them  down  by  the  sides  of  the  plant  to  the  roots  in  the  manner 
of  giving  thanks  and  blessing.  He  then  grasped  the  fruit,  and,  turning 
to  the  people,  said,  *It  is  solid;  it  is  ripe.*  Very  gently  then  he  parted 
the  husks  at  the  top,  and  again  turning  to  the  people,  he  said,  *The  fruit 
is  red.'  Then  he  took  a  few  of  the  grains,  showed  them  to  the  people, 
then  ate  them,  and  replaced  the  husks.  The  youth  suffered  no  ill  effects, 
and  the  people  were  convinced  that  this  plant  was  given  them  for  food. 
In  the  autumn,  when  the  prairie  grass  had  turned  brown,  the  stalks  and 
leaves  of  this  plant  turned  brown  also.  The  fruit  was  plucked  and  put 
away  with  carefulness.  The  next  spring  the  kernels  were  divided  among 
the  people,  four  to  each  family.  The  people  removed  to  the  place  where 
the  strange  plant  had  appeared,  and  there  they  built  their  huts  along 
the  banks  of  the  two  rivers.  When  the  hills  began  to  be  green  from  the 
new  prairie  grass,  the  people  planted  the  kernels  of  this  strange  plant, 
having  first  built  mounds  like  the  one  out  of  which  the  first  plant  grew. 
To  the  great  joy  of  the  people  the  kernels  sprouted  and  grew  into  strong 
healthy  plants.  Through  the  summer  they  grew  and  developed,  and  the 
fruit  ripened  as  did  that  of  the  original  plant.  The  fruit  was  gathered 
and  some  was  eaten,  and  was  found  to  be  good.  In  gathering  the  fruit 
the  people  discovered  that  there  were  various  colours — some  ears  were 
white  and  others  were  blue,  some  were  red,  others  were  yellow. 

"The  next  season  the  people  gathered  a  rich  harvest  of  this  new  plant. 
In  the  autumn  these  people,  the  Arikara,  sent  invitations  to  a  number  of 
different  tribes  to  come  and  visit  them.  Six  tribes  came;  one  of  these 
was  the  Omaha.  The  Arikara  were  very  generous  in  the  distribution  of 
the  fruit  of  this  new  plant  among  their  guests,  and  in  this  manner  a 
knowledge  of  the  plant  came  to  the  Omaha." 


A  GROUP  OF  PAWNEE  HYMNS  TO  CORN 

The  Pawnee  had  migrated  from  the  distant  southwest  into  the 
Plains  region,  finally  arriving  at  the  region  drained  by  the  Republican, 
the  Platte,  and  the  Niobrara  rivers.  Com  was  native  in  Mexico,  and  had 
been  introduced  into  the  Plains  by  gradual  adaptation  in  cultivation 
along  the  line  of  migration  of  the  Pawnee  nation.  These  hymns  express 
something  of  the  high  value  which  the  people  placed  upon  corn  as  an 
item  of  their  daily  sustenance.  They  also  reflect  something  of  the  scen- 
ery of  the  Plains  landscape.  These  hymns  are  from  an  ancient  Pawnee 
ritual  which  is  given  entire  in  the  Twenty-second  Annual  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Part  2. 

MOTHER  CORN 

I 

Mother  with  the  life-giving  power  now  comes, 
Stepping  out  of  far-distant  days  she  comes, 
Days  wherein  to  our  fathers  gave  she  food; 
As  to  them,  so  now  unto  us  she  gives. 
Thus  she  will  to  our  children  faithful  be. 
Mother  with  the  life-giving  power  now  comes! 
[56] 


II 

Mother  with  the  life-giving  power  is  here. 
Stepping  out  of  far  distant  days  she  comes. 
Now  she  forward  moves,  leading  as  we  walk 
Toward  the  future,  where  blessings  she  will  give, 
Gifts  for  which  we  have  prayed  granting  to  us. 
Mother  with  the  life-giving  power  is  here! 


LEADERSHIP  OF  MOTHER  CORN 
I 

The  Mother  leads  and  we  follow  on, 

Her  devious  pathway  before  us  lies. 

She  leads  us  as  were  our  fathers  led 

Down  through  the  ages. 
II 

The  Mother  leads  and  we  follow  on. 

Her  pathway  straight,  where  a  stage  each  day 

We  forward  walk,  as  our  fathers  walked 

Down  through  the  ages. 
The  two  preceding  hymns  reflect  the  fact  that  com  was  introduced 
by  the  Pawnee  from  their  more  ancient  homeland  in  the  faraway  south- 
west in  remotely  past  time  into  the  region  of  their  later  residence  in  the 
plains.  They  also  reflect  the  importance  which  com  had  in  the  everyday 
life  of  this  people. 

The  following  hymn  to  Mother  Corn  as  Guide  is  expressive  of  the 
sense  of  vastness  and  awesomeness  of  the  great  extent  of  the  Plains, 
and  something  of  its  grimness. 


GUIDANCE  OF  MOTHER  CORN 
I 

Looking  o'er  the  prairie,  naught  our  eyes  discern  there, 

Wide  the  land  stretches  out  before  us; 

Then  we  cry  aloud  to  Mother  Corn:  "Doth  thy  pathway  lie  here?" 

II 

Heeding  now  our  crying,  while  our  eyes  she  opens. 

Mother  Corn  moveth  out  before  us 

On  the  lonely  prairie,  where  we  see  straight  the  pathway  lies 

there ! 

*     *     * 

The  following  hymn  of  thanks  for  the  com  shows  something  of  the 
religious  feeling  of  the  Pav^oiee  and  their  gratitude  to  Providence  for 
the  gift  of  com. 


A  HYMN  OF  THANKS  TO  MOTHER  CORN 
I 
See!    The  Mother  Corn  comes  hither,  making  all  hearts  glad! 
Making  all  hearts  glad! 
Give  her  thanks,  she  brings  a  blessing;  now,  behold!   she  is  here! 

II 

Yonder  Mother  Corn  is  coming,  coming  unto  us! 
Coming  unto  us! 

Peace  and  plenty  she  is  bringing;   now,  behold!    she   is  here! 

[57] 


THE  FORGOTTEN  EAR  OF  CORN 

A  woman  of  the  Arikara  tribe  was  harvesting  her  crop  of  corn, 
making  ready  to  store  it  away  in  a  safe  place  where  she  might  be  able 
to  get  it  for  use  during  the  long  cold  winter.  She  went  along  gathering 
the  ears  and  placing  them  in  convenient  heaps  so  that  she  could  gather 
them  up  to  carry  to  the  storage  place  she  had  prepared.  When  she  had 
finished  her  work  she  started  to  go,  but  she  heard  a  voice  like  the  voice  of 
a  little  child,  crying  and  calling  pitifully:  "Oh,  do  not  leave  me!  Do  not 
go  away  without  me." 

The  woman  was  astonished  at  what  she  supposed  was  the  voice  of 
a  lost  child.  She  said  to  herself:  "What  is  this?  Can  it  be  some  child 
has  wandered  and  has  been  lost  in  my  cornfield?  I  must  go  and  look 
for  it." 

So  she  laid  down  her  burden  of  gathered  corn,  and  went  back  into 
the  field  to  make  search.    But  she  found  no  child  anywhere  in  the  field. 

Then  she  started  once  more  to  take  up  her  burden  and  leave  the  field. 
But  again  she  heard  the  plaintive  little  voice  crying:  "Oh,  do  not  leave 
me!    Do  not  go  away  without  me." 

Then  she  went  back  into  the  field  and  searched  again  for  a  long  time. 
After  diligent  search  she  found  one  little  ear  of  com  which  had  been 
covered  by  stalks  and  leaves.  It  was  the  little  ear  of  com  which  had 
been  crying,  fearing  to  be  left  to  die  in  the  field.  So  all  Indian  women 
are  very  careful  in  gathering  their  crops  so  that  nothing  shall  be  lost 
or  wastsd  of  the  good  gifts  of  the  Great  Mystery,  for  they  are  accounted 
sacred  and  holy,  and  it  would  be  wicked  to  treat  them  with  neglect  or  in- 
difference. 


HOW  THE  USEFULNESS  OF  WILD  RICE  WAS 
DISCOVERED 

A  Chippetva  Myth 

Wenibozho  and  his  grandmother,  Nokomis,  lived  together  in  a 
lodge  by  themselves.  When  he  approached  manhood  his  grandmother 
exhorted  him  to  exert  himself,  to  learn  to  endure  hardship,  loneliness, 
cold  and  hunger  and  thirst,  for  such  experience  is  the  proper  training  for 
a  young  man.  A  young  man  needs  such  training  so  that  when  overtaken 
by  misfortune  he  shall  be  brave  and  resourceful;  so  that  he  may  be  able 
to  take  care  of  himself  and  of  any  who  may  be  dependent  upon  him. 

So,  one  day  Wenibozho  told  his  grandmother  he  was  going  away  into 
the  wilderness  where  he  had  never  been  before,  so  that  he  could  be  cast 
upon  his  own  resources  to  try  his  strength  and  courage  and  wit. 

He  was  gone  many  days  and  nights,  wandering  through  the  forest  and 
beside  streams  and  lakes.  He  subsisted  upon  such  fruits,  seeds,  roots  and 
tubers  as  he  was  able  to  find,  and  upon  the  flesh  of  animals  he  was 
able  to  shoot  with  his  bow  and  arrow  which  he  had  brought  with  him. 
One  day  he  came  to  a  lake  in  which  was  growing  a  great  quantity  of 
beautiful,  feathery  wild  rice,  swaying  over  the  water  in  the  gentle  breeze. 
From  the  bark  of  a  birch  tree  he  fashioned  a  canoe  in  which  he  rowed 
out  upon  the  lake  and  gathered  a  quantity  of  the  wild  rice.     He  did  not 

[58] 


know  the  wild  rice  was  useful  for  food,  for  he  had  never  seen  it  before, 
but'he  admired  its  beauty.  He  took  the  wild  rice  which  he  had  gathered 
to  his  grandmother.  He  told  her  of  the  beautiful  plant  which  he  had 
found  in  the  lake  and  that  he  had  brought  to  her  some  of  the  seed  of 
the  plant.  This  seed  they  sowed  in  another  lake  near  the  place  where 
he  lived  with  his  grandmother,  for  he  hoped  to  have  the  beautiful  plant 
growing  where  he  might  often  enjoy  its  beauty. 

Again  he  went  away  into  the  forest  so  that  he  might  become  accus- 
tomed to  endure  hardships  and  also  that  he  might  learn  wisdom  from  the 
living  creatures,  not  only  from  the  moving  creatures,  but  also  from  those 
other  living  creatures,  the  plants  of  all  kinds.  While  walking  he  thought 
he  heard  a  voice  saying,  "Sometimes  they  eat  us."  He  stopped  and  lis- 
tened and  again  he  heard  the  words  "Sometimes  they  eat  us."  This  time 
he  perceived  that  the  words  came  from  some  bushes  near  which  he  was 
passing.  Finally  he  spoke,  saying,  "To  whom  are  you  talking?"  He 
was  told  that  he  was  the  one  to  whom  the  bush  was  speaking,  so  he  dug 
up  the  plant  and  found  that  it  had  a  long  root.  He  tasted  the  root  and 
it  was  pleasant  to  the  taste,  so  he  dug  more,  and  ate  a  great  many,  so 
many  that  he  was  made  ill.  He  was  too  ill  to  travel,  so  he  lay  there  three 
days.  Finally  he  was  able  to  rise  and  move  on,  but  he  was  hungry  and 
weak.  As  he  passed  along  other  plants  spoke  to  him,  but  he  was  now 
afraid  to  eat  of  them.  Then  as  he  was  walking  along  a  stream  he  saw 
some  bunches  of  grass  growing  up  out  of  the  water  which  beckoned  to 
him  and  said,  "Sometimes  they  eat  us."  He  was  so  hungry,  and  the 
graceful  grass  was  so  tempting,  that  he  was  constrained  to  gather  some 
seeds  of  it  and  eat.  The  taste  was  pleasing,  and  its  effect  upon  his 
hunger  was  so  gratifying  that  he  said,  "O,  you  are  indeed  good!  What 
are  you  called?"  The  Grass  replied,  "We  are  called  manomin,"  which  is 
the  name  which  the  Chippewa  people  call  this  plant.  Wenibozho  waded 
out  into  the  water  and  gathered  the  grains  by  handfuls  and  ate  it,  and  so 
continued  till  his  hunger  was  fully  satisfied.  From  eating  the  manomin 
he  suffered  no  ill  effects  whatever,  but  was  strengthened  wonderfully. 
Finally  he  remembered  the  grain  which  he  had  discovered  on  his  former 
journey  and  which  he  and  his  grandmother,  Nokomis,  had  sown  in  the 
lake  near  their  home.  When  he  returned  and  found  it  growing  and 
compared  it  with  this  grain  which  he  had  now  found  to  be  so  good,  he 
perceived  that  it  was  the  same  sort.  So  he  found  that  this  beautiful  grass 
which  he  had  growing  in  the  lake  near  home  was  really  manomin,  as 
pleasant  to  the  taste  and  as  satisfying  to  hunger  as  it  was  beautiful  to 
the  eyes.  Ever  since  that  time  the  Chippewas  have  known  how  to  value 
the  good  gift  of  manomin. 


A  STORY  OF  THE  SUNFLOWER 

A  Story  from  the  Dakota  Nation 

Once  on  a  time,  long  ago,  a  company  of  men  were  going  upon  a 

war  expedition.    And  now  as  they  were  within  the  country  of  the  enemy 

they  were   proceeding  very  cautiously.      One   morning  very  early  they 

heard  what  seemed  to  be  the  sound  of  someone  singing  in  a  tremulous 

[59] 


voice,  coming  from  the  direction  toward  which  they  were  marching.  They 
stopped  and  stood  still  to  listen. 

As  they  stood  thus  listening  it  seemed  to  them  that  the  singer,  who- 
ever he  might  be,  must  be  a  clown,  for  he  was  singing  a  clown  song. 
There  was  not  light  enough  to  see  the  singer.  But  they  waited  silently 
and  anxiously  peering  ahead  in  the  direction  from  which  came  the  sound 
of  the  singing.  At  the  first  glimmer  of  the  dawn  light  they  were  able  to 
make  out  the  appearance  of  a  man  walking  with  an  awkward  shuffling 
gait.  His  robe  was  ragged  and  his  leggings  drooped  down  slouchingly 
in  wrinkles  about  his  ankles  as  he  walked.  He  had  great  circles  about  his 
eyes  painted  a  bright  yellow  and  he  was  singing  a  clown  song  in  a  husky 
wheezy  voice. 

So  they  stood  in  wonder  regarding  the  clown  who  was  coming  to- 
ward them.  He  was  coming  toward  the  sun  rising  and  as  the  daylight 
grew  brighter  they  were  astonished  to  see  the  man  suddenly  changed  to 
a  sunflower. 

And  ever  since  that  time,  it  is  said,  the  sunflower  is  inclined  to  face 
toward  the  sun. 


DAKOTA  FOLKLORE  OF  THE  SPIDERWORT 

The  spiderwort  (Tradescantia  bracteata)  and  (Tradescantia  occi- 
dentalis)  is  a  beautiful  native  prairie  flower  which  is  known  under  nu- 
merous popular  names.  It  is  called  spiderwort,  spider  lily,  ink  flower, 
king's  crown,  and  various  other  names.  It  has  been  proposed  to  add  to 
the  list  another  name,  "flower-of -romance."  This  name  is  proposed  from 
the  circumstance  of  a  bit  of  pleasing  sentiment  connected  with  this 
flower  in  the  folklore  of  the  Dakota  nation  of  Indians. 

It  is  a  charmingly  beautiful  and  delicate  flower,  deep  blue  in  color, 
with  a  tender-bodied  plant  of  graceful  lines.  There  is  no  more  appeal- 
ingly  beautiful  flower  on  the  western  prairies  than  this  one  when  it  is 
sparkling  with  dewdrops  in  the  first  beams  of  the  rising  sun.  There 
is  about  it  a  suggestion  of  purity,  freshness  and  daintiness. 

When  a  young  man  of  the  Dakota  nation  is  in  love,  and  walking  alone 
on  the  prairie  finds  this  flower  blooming,  he  stops  and  sings  to  it  a  song 
in  which  he  personifies  it  with  the  qualities  of  his  sweetheart's  person- 
ality as  they  are  called  to  his  mind  by  the  appearance  of  the  flower  be- 
fore him,  its  characteristics  figuratively  suggesting  the  characteristics 
of  her  whose  image  he  carries  romantically  in  his  mind  and  heart.  In 
his  mind  the  beauties  of  the  flower  and  the  charms  of  the  girl  are  mu- 
tually transmuted  and  flow  together  into  one  image. 

The  words  of  his  song,  translated  from  the  Dakota  language  into  the 
English,  are  something  like  this: 

"Tiny,  gladsome  flower, 
So  winsome  and  modest. 
Thou  art  dainty  and  sweet. 
For  love  of  thee  I'd  die." 


[60] 


stories  of  the  Four-Footed  People 


THE  FAITHFUL  DOG 

The  dog  was  the  companion  and  servant  of  the  people  over  all  parts 
of  North  America,  and  previous  to  the  introduction  of  the  horse  into  the 
western  hemisphere  by  the  Spaniards,  the  dog  was  the  only  domestic  an- 
imal which  the  Indians  had.  After  horses  were  introduced  by  the  Span- 
iards, they  soon  came  into  use  by  the  Indians,  and  in  a  comparatively 
short  time  they  were  widely  spread  over  the  continent. 

But  in  former  days  the  dog  was  the  only  beast  of  burden  which  the 
Indians  had.  They  served  as  watchers  at  night,  as  companions  and 
helpers  in  the  chase,  and  as  bearers  of  burdens  in  transportation  service. 

Once  on  a  time  a  hunting  party  of  men  of  the  Dakota  nation  were 
in  the  buffalo  grazing  country  in  the  time  of  the  winter  hunt.  Scouts 
were  sent  out  each  day  to  look  for  a  herd  and  to  bring  back  report  to 
the  officers.  One  day  one  of  the  scouts  discovered  a  herd  near  a  certain 
lake.  He  came  into  camp  in  the  evening,  as  soon  as  he  could  after  he 
found  the  herd.  At  once  he  went  according  to  the  law  and  rendered  his 
report  to  the  proper  officers.  After  reporting  he  went  to  his  lodge  and 
had  his  evening  meal  and  then  lay  down  to  rest  from  the  weariness  of  the 
day's  scouting. 

The  officers  held  council  and  made  the  plans  for  the  next  days  activ- 
ities of  the  hunting  field.  Then  they  sent  the  herald  around  the  camp 
to  announce  the  orders  for  the  next  day. 

At  the  earliest  light  next  morning  every  one  in  camp  was  up  and 
making  preparations  for  the  day's  work.  It  was  yet  early  in  the  day 
when  the  hunters  reached  the  lake  where  the  scout  had  discovered  the 
buffalo  herd  the  previous  day.  Here  they  found  the  buffaloes  still  feeding. 
At  the  command  of  the  officers  the  hunters  and  their  dogs  were  deployed 
to  surround  the  herd  for  the  slaughter,  for  the  meat  supply  of  the  people 
had  become  low,  and  at  this  opportunity  they  must  replenish  their  pro- 
vision. 

The  herd  was  feeding  upon  a  strip  of  land  which  was  surrounded 
on  three  sides  by  a  lake.  The  plan  was  to  advance  upon  the  herd  from 
the  base  of  this  strip  of  land  and  force  them  out  into  the  lake  where  the 
huge  animals  would  be  at  a  disadvantage  upon  the  slippery  ice. 

The  men  and  dogs  charged  upon  the  herd  and  soon  the  great  mass  of 
shaggy  beasts  were  forced  out  upon  the  treacherous  ice  where  they  were 
struggling  in  great  confusion.    Many  were  killed  before  the  herd  finally 

[61] 


reached  the  shore  of  the  lake  and  scrambled  up  the  steep  bank  and  fled 
away  over  the  plain. 

The  sun  was  already  past  the  middle  of  the  sky  and  the  hunters  were 
busy  with  the  work  of  skinning  the  carcasses  and  dressing  the  beef, 
making  ready  to  carry  back  to  camp  their  prize  of  meat,  hides,  and  other 
useful  products,  when  suddenly  they  saw  and  felt  a  great  change  in  the 
sky  and  in  the  air.  The  threatening  signs  were  evident  of  the  swift  ap- 
proach of  a  blizzard,  the  dreadful  and  terrific  winter  storm  of  fierce, 
roaring  wind  and  driving  snow  and  frightful  cold  which  frequently  sweeps 
over  the  northern  plains. 

The  hunters  made  haste  to  reach  camp  which  had  been  made  in  the 
shelter  of  the  woods  not  far  away.  Here  a  certain  number  had  been  de- 
tailed by  the  officers  to  make  camp  and  to  gather  firewood,  while  the 
others  had  been  taking  care  of  the  meat.  Now  as  the  fearful  storm 
threatened,  they  gathered  in  the  camp  bringing  in  what  they  could  carry 
of  the  meat  supply.  Soon  the  hunters  were  refreshing  themselves  with 
freshly  broiled  steaks  which  were  much  relished  by  the  hungry  men,  who 
had  eaten  nothing  since  the  early  morning  just  before  they  had  broken 
camp.     The  dogs  too  were  given  their  share. 

The  storm  was  now  upon  them  in  its  fury;  and  all  about  was  a 
smothering,  dizzying  swirl  of  whiteness  as  impenetrable  as  the  blackness 
of  night.  The  gale  of  wind  roared  unceasingly;  the  myriad  millions  of 
tiny  snow  particles  ground  upon  each  other  in  the  swirl  of  the  storm,  each 
infinitesimal  impact  adding  to  the  aggregate  of  reverberation  of  sound, 
while  the  skin  tents  hummed  like  enormous  drums. 

From  time  to  time  those  who  were  already  in  camp  shouted  to  guide 
the  later  comers  who  gave  answering  shouts  and  came  one  after  another 
staggering  into  camp  exhausted  by  the  buffeting  of  the  storm.  At  last 
only  one  was  missing.  The  herd  scout,  who  had  found  and  reported  the 
herd  the  day  before;  he  and  his  faithful  dog  had  not  yet  come  in.  The 
fury  of  the  storm  throughout  the  night  and  the  next  day  prevented  the 
possibility  of  going  to  look  for  the  missing  man. 

Toward  morning  following  the  second  night  of  the  storm  its  fury 
abated.  As  is  usual,  at  the  end  of  a  blizzard,  it  was  followed  by  an  extra- 
ordinary calm.  The  drifted  plain  lay  as  still  and  white  as  marble.  The 
stars  glistened  coldly  like  ice  crystals  in  the  sky.  The  air  was  so  clear 
that  the  least  sound  made  by  any  moving  creature  was  magnified  in  the 
stillness. 

The  hunting  camp  awoke.  Suddenly  the  game  call  of  the  great  gray 
wolf  was  heard.  And  soon  the  hunters  saw  a  great  number  of  these 
gaunt  gray  creatures  out  upon  the  ice  of  the  lake  and  on  the  plain,  dig- 
ging out  the  white  mounds  which  were  the  snowdrifts  about  the  carcasses 
of  the  buffaloes  which  the  hunters  had  been  obliged  to  leave  when  the 
storm  came  upon  them. 

And  now  among  the  wolf  cries  another  sound  was  heard, — tha  defiant 
barking  of  a  dog!  It  was  the  scout's  dog.  The  men  hurried  toward  the 
slaughter  field  to  kill  or  drive  away  the  wolves.  Some  wolves  were 
dragging  away  a  buffalo  carcass,  and  from  among  the  snarling  howling 
pack  about  this   carcass   the   hunters   could  distinctly  hear  the   hoarse 

[62] 


barking  of  their  missing  friend's  dog,  and  occasionally  they  could  hear  a 
strangely  muffled  shout  of  a  man  sounding  as  though  it  came  from  under 
the  ice. 

The  hunters  finally  reached  the  place  to  which  the  carcass  had  been 
dragged  by  the  wolves.  As  the  men  came  near  the  wolves  ran  away  and 
the  men  saw  the  dog  standing  by  the  carcass  for  a  moment  before  he 
fell  dead  as  they  reached  the  place.  The  men  with  their  knives  cut  open 
the  abdominal  cavity  of  the  carcass  and  found  the  missing  scout  inside 
wrapped  in  his  robe  in  a  bed  of  grass  and  buffalo  hair. 

When  the  storm  had  come  upon  him  at  his  work  he  had  sesn  that  he 
could  not  reach  the  camp  so  he  had  opened  two  of  the  carcasses  and  re- 
moved the  internal  organs.  In  one  he  had  made  a  bed  for  his  dog,  and 
in  the  other  for  himself  for  protection  from  the  fury  of  the  storm.  The 
dog  had  kept  an  opening  to  his  shelter,  but  the  man  had  closed  the  en- 
trance of  his  own  after  he  was  in,  and  the  hide  had  frozen  solid,  making 
him  a  prisoner.  When  the  wolves  came  the  dog  was  able  to  free  himself 
and  tried  to  defend  his  imprisoned  master,  regardless  of  his  own  safety. 
He  had  been  mortally  wounded  before  the  hunters  could  save  him. 

As  soon  as  the  scout  was  released  he  inquired  for  the  dog,  his  friend 
and  defender.  When  he  saw  that  his  loyal  friend  was  dead,  having  given 
up  his  life  in  defense  of  his  master,  the  scout  was  deeply  moved  with 
grief.  He  knelt  down  and  stroked  the  head  of  the  dead  dog,  and  said, 
"Ah,  my  friend;  you  were  courageous  and  faithful  unto  death.  And  you 
died  like  a  brave  warrior.  You  shall  have  the  funeral  of  a  dead  war- 
rior." 

So  with  all  due  ceremony  the  scout  carried  the  body  of  the  dog  to 
the  top  of  a  hill  overlooking  the  lake  where  he  had  given  up  his  life  in 
doing  his  duty.  There  the  scout  laid  the  body.  Over  it  he  built  up  a 
tomb  of  boulders  which  he  gathered  from  the  hills.  Then  he  laid  upon 
it  offerings  of  red  paint  and  of  food  according  to  the  funeral  custom  of 
his  people,  and  they  sang  the  farewell  song  for  the  dead. 

Ever  since  that  time  this  hill  has  been  known  to  the  Dakotas  as  the 
Grave  of  the  Dog. 


HOW  COYOTE  CHIEF  WAS  PUNISHED 

A  Mandan  Story 

Coyote  Chief  was  out  hunting  one  day,  and  he  came  upon  a  buffalo 
bull  grazing.  "Brother,"  he  said,  "You  have  nothing  to  do  just  now.  Let 
us  run  a  race  to  see  which  of  us  is  the  swifter."  "All  right,"  said  the 
buffalo,  "let  us  run." 

"I  shall  first  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  the  race,"  Coyote  Chief 
said,  "then  I  shall  come  back  for  you." 

So  Coyote  Chief  found  a  high  steep  bank  and  placed  on  the  very 
edge  of  it  a  small  heap  of  stones.  Then  he  returned  to  the  buffalo  and 
said,  "Everything  is  now  ready.  Let  us  race  over  to  yonder  heap  of 
stones  which  I  have  set  up  for  a  goal.  When  we  are  almost  to  the  goal 
let  us  shut  our  eyes  and  run  as  hard  as  we  can."  And  so  they  ran  toward 
the  heap  of  stones  and  the  buffalo  ran  over  the  bank  and  was  killed  by 
falling,  just  as  Coyote  Chief  had  planned. 

[63] 


But  Coyote  Chief  had  nothing  with  which  to  skin  the  buffalo  and 
cut  up  and  prepare  the  meat.  So  he  walked  along  a  little  way  and  came 
to  a  small  clump  of  timber.  As  he  approached  the  timber  he  called  out, 
"Brothers,  give  me  a  knife."  And  they  gave  him  a  knife.  Then  he  went 
on  to  another  clump  of  timber.  Here  he  called  out,"Brothers,  give  me  an 
earthen  pot."  And  they  gave  him  an  earthen  pot.  He  went  on  again  ta 
another  clump  of  timber,  where  he  called  out,  "Brothers,  give  me  a  horn 
spoon."    And  they  gave  him  a  horn  spoon. 

Then  Coyote  Chief  went  back  to  the  place  where  the  buffalo  had  fal- 
len, and  there  he  built  a  hunter's  lodge  of  leafy  branches  of  trees.  Then 
he  skinned  the  buffalo  and  pegged  out  the  skin  upon  the  ground  and 
scraped  it.  Next  he  cut  up  the  meat,  and  some  of  it  he  cut  into  strips 
and  hung  it  up  to  dry. 

Coyote  Chief  had  Fox  for  a  servant,  to  run  errands  and  to  work 
about  the  house.  And  he  treated  Fox  badly  and  did  not  give  him  enough 
to  eat.  Fox  was  hungry,  as  usual,  and  tried  to  help  himself  to  some  of 
the  buffalo  meat,  but  Coyote  Chief  saw  him  and  was  angry.  He  seized  a 
brand  from  the  fire  and  thrust  it  into  Fox's  face,  burning  him  thereby.  Fox 
was  hurt  so  badly  that  he  decided  to  run  away,  but  he  wished  first  to  be 
revenged  upon  Coyote  Chief.  So  he  went  around  to  all  the  other  animals 
and  told  them  how  badly  he  had  been  used  by  Coyote  Chief.  The  animals 
were  sorry  for  him  and  seemed  willing  to  help  him  to  punish  Coyote 
Chief.  So  they  held  a  meeting  and  talked  over  the  matter  to  decide  upon 
the  best  way  to  do  this.  The  decision  of  the  council  was  that  they  should 
all  go  over  to  his  house  that  night  and  eat  up  all  his  meat  while  he  was 
asleep. 

Coyote  Chief  had  worked  hard  all  day  to  take  care  of  his  meat,  and 
had  not  taken  time  to  eat  much.  Being  tired  after  his  day's  work  he  went 
to  bed  early.  But  he  was  anxious  lest  some  one  might  come  and  take 
his  meat  while  he  slept,  so  before  going  to  sleep  he  said,  "Now  my 
members,  you  must  watch  for  me  while  I  sleep.  My  eyes,  if  anyone 
peeps  in  you  must  stare  hard  at  him.  My  ears,  if  you  hear  a  sound,  you 
must  wiggle.  My  arms,  if  anyone  comes  in  you  must  thrash  aroimd.  My 
legs,  if  any  one  comes  near,  you  must  kick."     Then  he  went  to  sleep. 

That  night  all  the  animals  gathered  at  Coyote  Chief's  house,  but 
they  were  afraid  to  touch  anything  till  they  were  sure  he  was  sound 
asleep.  So  they  sent  Magpie  first  to  peep  in  at  the  door.  Magpie  went 
and  peeped  in  and  saw  Coyote  Chief's  eyes  staring  hard  at  him,  and  he 
went  back  and  said,  "He  is  not  asleep,  for  his  eyes  stared  at  me." 

After  a  time  Crow  was  sent  to  find  if  Coyote  Chief  was  not  asleep. 
Crow  flew  up  and  perched  by  the  smoke-hole.  When  he  looked  in  Coyote 
Chief's  ears  began  to  wiggle.  Crow  went  back  and  told  the  animals  that 
Coyote  Chief  could  not  be  asleep,  for  as  soon  as  he  looked  in  Coyote 
Chief's  ears  began  to  wiggle. 

A  little  later  Jack  Rabbit  was  sent  to  look.  Jack  Rabbit  pushed  in 
a  little  at  the  door,  and  Coyote  Chief's  arms  began  to  move  up  and 
down.  So  Jack  Rabbit  went  back  and  reported  that  Coyote  Chief  must 
still  be  awake. 

[64] 


The  animals  again  waited,  and  then  sent  Fox.  Fox  went  inside,  and 
then  Coyote  Chief's  legs  began  to  kick,  so  he  ran  out  and  told  the  others 
that  Coyote  Chief  was  still  awake. 

Now,  after  waiting  quite  a  long  time,  the  animals  sent  Mouse. 
Mouse  went  in  and  saw  that  Coyote  Chief  seemed  to  be  sound  asleep. 
He  went  up  and  ran  over  his  legs  and  there  was  no  motion;  then  he  ran 
over  his  chest  and  still  Coyote  Chief  was  not  disturbed.  At  last  he  ran 
over  his  face,  and  Coyote  Chief  did  not  stir.  So  Mouse  went  and  told 
the  others  that  Coyote  Chief  was  surely  asleep.  Then  they  came  in  and 
ate  up  all  the  meat  except  a  few  scraps  which  dropped  while  they  weire 
eating.  When  they  had  finished  eating  they  went  away  without  having 
wakened  Coyote  Chief. 

The  next  morning  when  Coyote  Chief  awoke,  he  was  very  hungry  be- 
cause he  had  eaten  little  the  day  before,  and  had  worked  hard;  but  he 
found  his  meat  was  all  gone,  and  he  said  to  himself,  "Oh,  why  did  I  not 
eat  the  meat  yesterday  instead  of  waiting!"  Then,  because  he  was  so 
hungry,  he  searched  about  on  the  ground  and  found  some  scraps  of  meat 
and  some  small  bits  of  fat.  All  these  he  gathered  up  on  a  robe.  He 
put  fresh  wood  upon  the  fire,  and  then  sat  down  by  the  fireplace  with 
the  robe  over  his  knees  to  eat  the  little  he  had.  But  just  then  a  spark 
shot  out  from  the  fire  and  lighted  on  his  hand,  which  hurt  him  so  that  he 
jumped  up  suddenly,  spilling  into  the  fire  all  the  shreds  of  meat  and  fat 
which  he  had  so  carefully  gathered. 

So  Coyote  Chief  got  none  of  his  meat,  and  was  punished  for  the  bad 
way  he  had  treated  Fox. 


THE  SKUNK  AND  THE  BEAR 

A  Mandan  Story 

One  day  a  skunk  was  going  somewhere,  travelling  quietly  along  a 
trail,  thinking  of  his  own  affairs.  He  did  not  know  it,  but  a  bear  was 
coming  along  the  same  trail  towards  him.  Neither  the  bear  nor  the 
skunk  knew  that  the  other  was  on  the  trail  until  suddenly  they  met. 
They  both  stopped.  Then  the  skunk  said  to  the  bear,  "You  are  on  my 
road.  Turn  out  and  let  me  pass !"  The  bear  replied,  "Not  so.  It  is  you 
who  are  on  my  road.  Get  out  of  my  way!"  But  the  skunk  said,  "You, 
yourself  must  turn  aside."  The  bear  then  said,  "Unless  you  do  as  I  tell 
you  I  shall  eat  you  at  once.  I  tell  you  that  you  are  on  my  road  and  must 
stand  aside.    I  wonder  how  skunk  meat  would  taste  if  I  should  eat  some." 

The  skunk  said,  "I  wonder  how  bear  flesh  would  taste  if  I  should 
eat  some."  Then  suddenly  the  skunk  threw  up  his  brush  and  sprinkled 
the  bear  full  in  the  face  with  his  dreadful  scent.  The  bear  tumbled  out 
of  the  path,  howling  in  misery,  and  clawing  at  his  nose  and  eyes.  He 
could  not  see,  and  was  almost  suffocated. 

As  for  the  skunk,  he  passed  on  his  way  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 


THE  SONG  OF  THE  OLD  WOLF 

There  is  a  story  told  among  the  people  of  the  Dakota  nation  that 
once  on  a  time  an  old  man  went  out  to  be  alone  upon  a  high  hill  above 

[65] 


the  Missouri  River  to  give  himself  to  meditation  and  prayer.  He  chose 
this  situation  because  of  the  grandeur  and  majesty  of  the  view,  of  the 
great  sweep  of  the  prairie  plains  and  hills,  one  hill  beyond  another  away 
and  away  to  the  far  horizon.  Below  flowed  the  wonderful  and  mys- 
terious river,  whose  waters  came  down  from  the  mighty  mountains  at 
the  west  and  rolled  on  and  on  past  the  villages  of  many  different  nations, 
finally  reaching  the  great  salt  water. 

As  the  old  man  thus  sat  meditating  and  considering  all  the  manifes- 
tations of  life  and  power  and  mystery  of  earth  and  sky,  he  espied  out 
upon  the  prairie  a  group  of  wolves  trotting  toward  the  river.  When 
they  reached  the  river  they  plunged  in  and  swam  across  to  the  other 
side;  all  but  one  old  one  who  was  now  too  enfeebled  by  age  to  dare  try 
his  strength  against  the  swift  and  powerful  current  of  the  river. 

This  old  wolf  sat  down  upon  the  bank  of  the  river  and  watched  his 
companions  as  they  swam  across  and  trotted  away  out  of  sight  on  the 
other  side.  When  they  had  disappeared  from  sight  he  raised  his  muzzle 
towards  the  sky  and  mournfully  sang  in  a  man's  voice  the  following 
song: 

All  o'er  the  earth  I've  roamed, 
I've  journeyed  far  and  wide; 
My  spirit  haste  and  go, 
I'm  nothing,  nothing  now, 
I'm  nothing,  nothing  now. 

Missouri  River,  flow. 
Thou  sacred  water  flow; 
My  spirit  haste  and  go, 
I'm  nothing,  nothing  now, 
I'm  nothing,  nothing  now. 

After  the  old  wolf  had  sung  this  song  he  wearily  made  his  way  to 
the  top  of  a  hill  and  lay  down  in  the  warm  sunshine,  in  the  shelter  of  a 
rock  and  there  waited  until  his  spirit  went  away. 

And  so  now,  when  old  men  of  the  Dakota  nation  feel  the  infirmities 
of  age  creeping  upon  them,  and  as  though  they  had  been  left  behind  in 
life's  march,  when  they  feel  the  depression  of  loneliness,  will  often  go  out 
alone  to  the  summit  of  some  high  hill  overlooking  the  Missouri  River, 
and  sitting  there  in  solitude  will  muse  upon  their  activities  and  note- 
worthy deeds  in  the  past,  of  their  companions  of  former  days  now  long 
gone  from  them,  and  contrast  all  this  with  their  present  inactivity  and 
loneliness.  Then  they  will  sadly  and  quaveringly  sing  this  "Song  of  the 
Old  Wolf." 


Note. — The  English  translation  and  rendering  into  verse  is  the  work 
of  Dr.  A.  McG.  Beede,  of  Fort  Yates,  North  Dakota.  The  original  song 
in  the  Dakota  language  is  as  follows: 

Maka  takomni  Mni-shoshe  yayo 

Tehan  omawani;  Mni  wakan  yayo; 

Minagi  yayayo,  Minagi  yayayo, 

Wana  matakuni,  Wana  matakuni, 

Wana  matakuni, 
O  he-he-he! 


[66] 


stories  of  the  People  of  the  Air 


FOLK  SAYINGS  ABOUT  THE  MEADOWLARK 

The  cheerful  animation  and  lively  manner  of  the  meadowlark  have 
made  it  a  favourite  with  all  people  who  are  acquainted  with  it,  both 
v/hites  and  Indians.  And  both  whites  and  Indians  attach  words  of  their 
several  lan^ages  to  the  notes  of  the  bird.  Among  sayings  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  attributed  to  the  notes  of  the  meadowlark  are  some  ex- 
pressions of  banter  and  raillery.  Farmers  say  that  early  in  springtime 
the  meadowlark  perches  jauntily  upon  the  top  of  a  fence-post  and  calls 
mockingly  to  them  "You  sowed  your  wheat  too  soon!  You  sowed  your 
wheat  too  soon!"  Another  taunting  expression  fitted  to  the  meadowlark's 
notes  is  addressed  to  girls  and  young  women;  it  is  "You  think  you're 
pretty,  don't  you?" 

These  locutions  in  English  are  in  accord  with  the  tone  of  many  say- 
ings ascribed  to  the  notes  of  the  meadowlark  by  the  Hidatsa  tribe  of 
North  Dakota,  and  with  their  name  of  the  bird,  wia-akumakihishe,  which 
means  "scolding  or  shrewish  woman,"  for  they  say  that  the  meadowlark 
says  such  taunting,  tormenting  and  aggravating  things.  One  of  these 
taunting  expressions  is  "Kitho  karishtiditore,"  which  is  a  most  exasper- 
ating saying.  Kitho  means  "that  insignificant  one,"  and  karishtiditore 
means  "good-for-nothing  fellow." 

The  Omahas  also  put  words  of  their  language  to  the  notes  of  the 
meadowlark.  One  of  these  is  Snite  thingthi  tegaze,  which  means  "winter 
will  not  come  back."  A  little  mixed-blood  girl  in  the  Omaha  tribe  was 
named  Marguerite.  Now  the  Omaha  language  does  not  contain  the  sound 
of  the  letter  "r,"  so  in  trying  to  pronounce  the  foreign  name  of  Mar- 
guerite they  make  it  Magathiche.  One  day  a  friend  of  this  little  girl's 
father  was  at  their  house,  and  he  was  playfully  teasing  her  because  he 
was  very  fond  of  her.  He  said,  of  course  speaking  in  the  Ohama  lan- 
guage, "Listen!  do  you  hear  that  bird  telling  about  you?  He  says: 
*Magathiche  hthitugthe !' "  The  word  hthitugthe  in  the  Omaha  language 
means  "of  a  bad  disposition,"  so  her  old  friend  was  teasing  her  by  putting 
words  to  the  bird  notes  which  meant  "Marguerite  is  of  a  bad  disposition," 
or  "Marguerite  is  naughty!" 

One  of  the  sayings  which  the  Pawnees  fit  to  the  notes  of  the  meadow- 
lark in  their  language  is  "Kichikakikuridu !"  which  means  "I  am  not 
afraid!" 

The  meadowlark  is  a  great  favourite  with  the  people  of  the  Dakota 
nation.     An  old  man  of  that  nation  was  asked  if  his  people  ever  used 

[67] 


the  meadowlark  for  food.  He  said  they  did  not.  When  it  was  said  that 
white  men  sometimes  eat  them,  he  said  he  knew  that.  Then,  when  asked 
why  Dakotas  would  not  eat  the  meadowlark,  he  said,  "We  think  too 
much  of  them.  They  are  our  friends."  They  call  the  meadowlark  "the 
bird  of  promise,"  and  "the  bird  of  many  gifts,"  for  they  say  it  promises 
good  things  to  its  friends,  the  Dakotas.  They  apply  words  of  the  Dakota 
language  to  the  songs  of  the  bird.  They  say  it  calls  to  the  people  with 
promises  and  with  words  of  encouragement  and  good  cheer,  and  that  it 
gives  counsel  and  advice  on  all  manner  of  subjects.  One  of  the  things 
which  it  used  to  sing  out  to  the  people  was  "Koda,  pte  kizhozho,"  i.  e., 
"Friends,  I  whistle  for  the  buffalo,"  that  is  to  say,  it  would  whistle  to 
call  the  buffalo  in  order  that  its  friends,  the  Dakotas,  might  supply  their 
needs  of  meat  and  clothing. 

A  touch  of  Dakota  humour  is  shown  in  one  saying  attributed  to  the 
meadowlark's  notes  in  these  later  times  since  the  government  has  es- 
tablished schools  on  the  reservations  to  teach  the  Dakota  children  in  the 
ways  of  the  white  men.  They  say  that  ofter  now  the  meadowlark  is 
to  be  seen  flitting  about  the  school  grounds  and  singing,  "One,  two,  three, 
epedo!  One,  two,  three,  epedo!"  The  Dakota  word  epedo  means  "You 
shall  say." 

The  white  people  speak  of  the  United  States  government  as  "Uncle 
Sam,"  but  the  people  of  the  Dakota  nation  call  the  government  "Tunka- 
shila,"  which  means  "Grandfather,"  a  title  of  the  highest  respect.  In 
the  summer  of  1918,  while  the  United  States  was  at  war  with  Germany, 
many  of  the  Dakotas  said  they  heard  "the  bird  of  promise"  singing 
"Tunkashila  ohiyelo!"  The  Dakota  word  "ohiyelo"  means  "will  be  vic- 
torious" or  "will  have  the  victory;"  so  the  meadowlark,  "the  bird  of 
promise,"  was  singing  to  them  "The  United  States  will  have  the  victory!" 


HOW  THE  MEADOWLARK  WON  THE  RACE 

A  young  man  named  Piya  had  a  beautiful  and  lovely  young  wife  and 
she  was  carried  away  by  an  evil  monster  who  kept  her  hidden  in  his 
dwelling.  The  young  man's  grandmother  was  a  very  wise  old  woman. 
She  had  great  knowledge  of  the  birds  and  beasts  and  of  the  trees  and 
other  plants,  and  she  had  mysterious  powers  and  could  do  many  wonder- 
ful things.  Also  she  had  taught  her  grandson  many  things,  so  that  he 
too  had  uncommon  knowledge  and  powers. 

Now  when  the  monster  stole  his  wife  away  he  came  to  his  grand- 
mother to  ask  her  to  help  him  recover  his  wife.  Before  he  came  to  her 
his  grandmother  knew  he  was  in  trouble,  so  when  he  came  he  found  her 
waiting  for  him.  She  said  "I  will  prepare  you  for  this  quest;  but  first 
bring  to  me  a  wolf,  a  turtle  and  a  meadowlark."  Then  she  brought  him 
food;  and  after  he  had  eaten  and  rested  he  set  out  to  find  the  wolf,  the 
turtle  and  the  meadowlark.  As  he  journeyed  he  found  all  of  them,  one 
after  another,  and  invited  them  to  eat  with  him.  Then  he  told  of  his 
grandmother's  wish  to  have  them  to  aid  him  in  his  quest.  They  each 
consented  to  help  him  provided  the  old  woman  would  give  him  the  thing 
most  desired.    The  wolf  said  he  wished  to  have  a  better  fur  coat  so  that 

[68] 


the  cold  breath  of  old  Waziya,  the  Old  Man  Winter,  would  not  chill  him. 
The  turtle  said,  "Insects  bite  me,  but  I  will  help  you  if  I  shall  be  given  pro- 
tection from  insects  which  suck  my  blood."  The  meadowlark  said  "My 
voice  is  harsh  and  I  can  sing  but  one  note  and  the  magpie  laughs  at  me. 
I  will  help  you  if  I  may  be  given  a  pleasing  voice  so  that  I  can  make  the 
magpie  ashamed."  So  the  young  man  Piya,  the  wizard,  together  with 
his  three  friends,  the  wolf,  the  turtle  and  the  meadowlark  came  back  to 
the  tipi  of  his  grandmother. 

She  was  waiting  and  expecting  him,  and  said,  "Grandson  I  knew  you 
would  come  and  bring  with  you  those  whom  I  want."  She  invited  them 
into  her  tipi  and  prepared  food  and  set  it  before  them.  The  next  morn- 
ing Piya  told  his  grandmother  that  these  friends  he  had  brought  had 
promised  to  help  him  if  they  should  each  be  given  what  he  most  de- 
sired. Then  she  told  them  if  they  would  help  her  grandson  she  would 
give  each  one  what  he  most  wished.  So  they  were  all  agreed.  She  told 
the  wolf  she  wished  him  to  give  her  grandson  the  cunning  by  which 
he  could  follow  a  hidden  trail  and  find  hidden  things;  she  asked  the 
turtle  to  give  him  the  sense  by  which  he  could  locate  water,  so  that  he 
should  be  able  to  avoid  perishing  of  thirst  in  a  desert  land;  and  the 
lark  was  to  give  him  power  to  hide  himself  without  covering  in  the 
open  prairie.  In  return  for  these  gifts  the  wolf  was  to  have  for  himself 
and  all  his  people  warm  fur  clothing  so  that  they  could  laugh  at  Waziya 
when  he  would  blow  his  cold  breath  upon  them.  The  turtle  was  prom- 
ised that  he  should  have  the  hard  tough  covering  which  he  asked,  so 
that  insects  could  not  bite  him.  The  meadowlark  was  given  a  pleasing 
voice  so  that  his  songs  would  make  the  magpie  ashamed. 

After  the  agreement  was  made  the  Old  Woman  told  them  that  the 
quest  on  which  they  had  to  go  would  take  them  into  a  country  where 
there  would  be  no  trees,  nor  much  grass  nor  open  trail,  and  but  little 
water  in  the  hidden  springs. 

So  the  wizard,  Piya,  and  his  companions,  the  wolf,  the  turtle  and  the 
meadowlark  set  out  upon  the  quest  after  the  Old  Woman  had  instructed 
them.  The  wolf  taught  him  how  to  find  hidden  trails;  the  meadowlark 
taught  him  how  to  be  hidden  without  covering,  and  the  turtle  taught  him 
how  to  find  hidden  watersprings. 

So  the  help  of  these  friends,  together  with  the  powers  he  already 
possessed,  enabled  Piya  finally  to  discover  where  his  wife  was  hidden  by 
the  monster,  and  to  rescue  her. 

So  they  all  came  back  to  the  tipi  of  the  Old  Woman.  They  all  re- 
joiced; the  young  woman  because  she  had  been  rescued  from  the  power  of 
the  monster;  the  young  man  Piya  because  he  had  found  his  wife;  and  the 
wolf,  the  turtle  and  the  meadowlark  because  they  were  to  have  the  gifts 
which  they  had  most  desired.  The  Old  Woman  prepared  a  feast  and  they 
feasted  imtil  far  into  the  night. 

Next  morning  the  Old  Woman  gave  to  the  wolf,  the  turtle  and  the 
meadowlark  each  the  gift  for  which  he  had  asked  as  a  reward  for  helping 
the  young  man,  and  they  set  out  together  on  the  trail  to  return  to  their 
homes.  As  they  journeyed  they  talked  about  the  gifts  which  they  had 
received.    As  they  talked  they  fell  into  argument,  each  claiming  that  his 

[69] 


gift  was  the  best,  and  soon  they  were  quarreling  and  were  about  to  fight. 
But  just  then  a  young  man  came  along  the  trail  and  he  asked  them  why 
they  were  quarreling.  They  told  him.  He  said  that  quarreling  was 
foolish  and  would  decide  nothing,  but  that  the  only  way  to  determine 
whose  gift  was  the  best  was  to  find  out  which  would  help  most  in  a  trial 
of  skill.  The  wolf  proposed  a  trial  in  hunting,  but  the  meadowlark  and 
the  turtle  said  they  could  not  hunt.  The  turtle  proposed  a  swimming 
contest,  but  the  wolf  and  the  meadowlark  said  they  could  not  swim. 
Then  the  meadowlark  in  his  turn  proposed  a  contest  in  singing,  for  he 
was  very  proud  of  his  gift,  but  the  wolf  and  the  turtle  protested  that 
they  could  not  sing. 

The  young  man  suggested  that  they  run  a  race.  To  this  they  all 
agreed.  The  young  man  told  them  they  must  run  past  a  plum  thicket, 
across  a  marsh  and  up  to  the  top  of  a  certain  hill.  There  they  would 
find  white  clay  and  colored  clay.  The  winner  of  the  race  would  be  the 
one  that  first  brought  back  to  him  some  of  the  white  clay.  They  set  out 
upon  the  race.  The  wolf  and  turtle  were  running  side  by  side;  but  the 
meadowlark  fell  far  behind. 

When  he  came  near  the  plum  thicket  he  saw  a  bundle  laid  up  in  the 
forks  of  a  plum  bush.  He  paused  and  sniffed  toward  it  and  the  scent  of 
it  was  strange  to  him,  and  he  became  curious  about  it,  and  wanted  to 
find  out  what  was  in  the  bundle.  He  asked  the  turtle  to  wait.  The 
turtle  said  he  would  wait  for  him  at  the  marsh.  The  wolf  walked  all 
round  the  bush  and  looked  carefully  at  the  bundle.  Then  he  rose  up 
against  the  bush  and  sniffed  at  the  bundle,  but  still  he  could  not  make 
out  what  was  in  it.  He  could  not  quite  reach  the  bundle,  so  he  leaped  to 
try  to  pull  it  down.  But  as  he  did  so  the  thorns  pricked  him.  He  jumped 
again  and  missed  the  bundle,  but  was  pricked  again  by  the  thorns.  Now 
he  became  angry  and  determined  he  would  get  the  bundle.  After  jump- 
ing many  times  and  being  always  pricked  by  the  thorns  so  that  he  had 
many  wounds  on  his  sides  and  back  he  finally  pulled  down  the  bundle. 
He  was  so  angry  that  in  his  vexation  he  energetically  shook  it  about  so 
that  it  was  shaken  open  and  its  contents  smeared  his  wounds.  This  made 
his  wounds  itch  so  severely  that  he  had  to  scratch  himself,  but  this 
made  him  itch  the  more.  He  was  in  such  torment  that  he  scratched 
madly  and  tore  his  fur  coat  and  was  bleeding,  so  he  forgot  the  race. 

The  turtle  ran  on  to  the  marsh  and  waited  there  as  he  had  promised. 
After  he  had  waited  a  long  time  he  concluded  the  wolf  had  deceived  him 
and  had  gone  on  to  the  hill.  Then  he  saw  a  small  white  puffball.  It 
looked  like  a  lump  of  white  clay,  so  the  thought  came  to  him  that  he 
could  deceive  the  young  man  with  it  and  get  even  with  the  wolf  for  the 
trick  he  supposed  the  wolf  had  played  upon  him.  So  he  took  the  puffball 
back  and  showed  it  to  the  young  man.  Neither  the  meadowlark  nor  the 
wolf  had  returned  yet,  so  the  young  man  told  the  turtle  he  was  the  first 
to  return  bringing  something  to  show  that  he  had  been  to  the  top  of 
the  hill. 

Now  when  the  meadowlark  ran  by  the  plum  thicket  he  saw  the  wolf 
jumping  about  one  of  the  bushes  trying  to  reach  something  which  was 
there,  so  the  meadowlark  was  encouraged  to  think  he  might  still  have 

[70] 


some  chance  in  the  race.  He  ran  on  to  the  marsh,  and  there  he  saw  the 
turtle  waiting,  so  he  was  still  more  encouraged.  He  then  ran  on  all  the 
way  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  He  was  so  anxious  and  flustered  when  he 
reached  there  that  instead  of  the  white  clay  which  the  young  man  had 
specified  as  the  token  of  having  been  to  the  goal,  he  made  a  mistake  and 
picked  up  a  lump  of  the  yellow  clay  and  turned  to  carry  it  back  to  the 
young  man.  As  he  was  crossing  back  over  the  marsh  again  he  stumbled 
and  dropped  the  lump  of  clay  into  the  black  mud.  He  picked  it  up  and 
hurried  on,  not  stopping  to  clean  off  the  black  mud.  When  he  came  near 
to  the  young  man  he  saw  the  turtle  sitting  there  and  smiling  and  look- 
ing very  satisfied.  The  meadowlark  then  thought  he  had  lost  the  race. 
He  was  so  disappointed  and  discouraged  that  he  wept.  His  tears  washed 
the  black  mud  off  from  the  lump  of  clay  and  made  a  black  stripe,  while 
the  yellow  clay  itself  was  washed  down  over  the  whole  front  of  his 
clothes. 

At  last  the  wolf  came  back  scratching  and  howling  in  his  misery. 
Great  patches  of  fur  were  torn  from  his  clothes  and  his  skin  was  raw  and 
sore.  The  turtle  taunted  the  wolf  for  his  crying.  He  swaggered  about 
and  boasted  that  nothing  could  make  him  whimper  and  cry.  The  young 
man  said  that  the  turtle  was  the  first  to  return,  but  that  he  must  make 
good  his  boast  that  nothing  could  make  him  whimper  if  he  should  lose. 
The  turtle  declared  that  he  would  prove  all  he  said  in  any  way  the  young 
man  should  require.  The  young  man  then  placed  the  puffball  upon  the 
turtle's  back.  The  puffball  very  quickly  increased  in  size  and  weight 
so  that  it  was  all  the  turtle  could  bear.  It  continued  to  increase  in  size 
until  the  turtle  was  borne  down  by  it  to  the  ground  and  his  legs  were 
bent.  Still  the  puffball  continued  to  grow  until  the  turtle's  body  was 
pressed  flat  by  it,  and  his  breath  was  pressed  out  of  his  body  and  he 
lay  as  if  he  were  dead.  Then  the  puffball  became  as  light  as  a  feather 
and  turned  black.  The  turtle  recovered  his  breath  a  little,  but  he  was 
unable  to  straighten  his  legs  or  to  regain  the  form  of  his  body,  so  he 
was  ashamed  and  drew  in  his  head  under  his  thick  skin. 

Then  the  young  man  laughed  loud  and  long  at  the  plight  of  the 
wolf,  the  turtle  and  the  meadowlark,  and  told  them  now  who  he  really 
was.  He  told  them  that  he  was  Iktomi,  the  Trickster.  He  told  them  that 
because  they  had  foolishly  quarreled  about  the  good  gifts  which  the  Old 
Woman  had  given  to  them,  instead  of  making  good  use  of  them,  they  had 
given  him  the  opportunity  to  play  this  trick  upon  them,  the  marks  of 
which  would  be  upon  them,  and  upon  their  people  forever.  He  said  that 
because  the  wolf  had  meddled  with  something  which  was  none  of  his 
affair  he  had  brought  upon  himself  the  torments  of  the  mange,  and  so 
it  would  always  be  with  his  people  whenever  they  should  do  as  he  had 
done.  He  said  that  because  the  turtle  had  attempted  to  win  by  cheat- 
ing, his  legs  and  the  legs  of  all  his  people  should  always  be  short  and 
bent  and  their  bodies  should  be  flattened,  so  they  could  never  run  in  a 
race.  And  because  he  had  lied  in  saying  the  puffball  was  white  clay, 
therefore  he  and  his  people  should  never  again  be  able  to  speak,  and  they 
should  always  hide  their  heads  for  shame.  As  for  the  meadowlark,  the 
young  man  said  he  had  won  the  race,  but  because  he  had  brought  back 

[71] 


the  yellow  clay  instead  of  the  white,  therefore  his  clothes  and  the  clothes 
of  his  people  should  always  be  yellow  in  front  and  there  should  be  a 
black  stripe  over  the  yellow. 


INDIAN  FOLKLORE  OF  THE  HORNED  LARK 

The  name  of  this  little  bird  in  the  Dakota  language  is  ishtaniche- 
tanka  (big  eye-tufts)  from  the  tuft  of  feathers  which  it  has  over  each 
eye.    It  is  for  the  same  reason  that  we  call  it  "homed"  lark. 

The  Dakotas  say  that  this  little  bird  foretells  the  weather.  They 
say  that  when  a  hot  dry  time  is  coming  in  the  summer  the  bird  sounds 
a  single  sharp  little  note;  but  when  rain  is  coming  the  bird  is  glad  and 
continuously  sings  loudly  and  joyously,  "magazhu,  magazhu,  magazhu!" 
In  the  Dakota  language  the  word  for  rain  is  magazhu.  Thus  the  bird  is 
singing  its  joy  for  the  rain  which  is  coming. 

The  name  of  this  bird  is  hupa-hishe  in  the  Hidatsa  language.  In  that 
language  the  word  for  moccasin  is  hupa,  and  the  word  hishe  means 
wrinkled.  This  bird  is  called  "wrinkled  moccasin"  because  of  its  appear- 
ance in  its  characteristic  habit  of  crouching  upon  the  ground,  where,  by 
its  grayish-brown  color  and  its  black  markings  it  is  made  inconspicuous 
and  hardly  distinguishable,  suggesting  the  appearance  of  a  ragged,  use- 
less old  moccasin. 

The  Hidatsas  have  a  story  of  this  bird  that  it  was  once  acting  as  a 
spy  in  enemy  country.  So  while  it  sat  in  its  characteristic  attitude  of 
inconspicuousness,  two  of  the  enemy  were  coming  along,  when  one 
thought  he  saw  something.  He  stopped  and  said  to  his  companion, 
"Wait,  what  is  that  over  there?"  His  companion  glanced  over  and  saw 
what  appeared  to  him  like  nothing  but  a  ragged,  rotten  old  fragment  of 
a  worn  out  moccasin,  and  answered,  "0,  that  is  just  an  old  wrinkled  moc- 
casin." So  the  bird  escaped  his  enemies,  and  it  is  from  that  that  the 
people  call  him  "hupa-hishe." 


HOW  IT  CAME  ABOUT  THAT  GEESE  MIGRATE 
The  Teton-Dakota  have  a  story  which  says  that  "Long,  long  time 
ago"  (Mia  ehanna)  the  goose  nation  did  not  migrate  to  the  south  in  the 
autumn,  but  remained  here  throughout  the  winter  time.  Because  of  the 
rigor  of  the  winter  most  of  the  people  of  the  goose  nation  perished  so 
that  they  were  always  a  small  and  weak  nation.  At  last  one  goose  had 
a  dream  of  the  south-land,  that  it  was  pleasant  even  in  winter,  that  the 
winter  there  was  mild  and  that  there  was  plenty  of  food  there.  So  she 
began  teaching  the  other  geese  that  they  should  practice  flying  more  and 
thus  make  their  wings  strong  so  they  could  fly  to  the  south-land  before 
winter  time.  Some  people  of  the  goose  nation  believed  the  vision  and 
began  to  practice  flying  to  make  their  wings  strong  for  the  autumn 
journey.  This  caused  discussion  and  dissension  in  the  nation,  and  a  law 
was  made  which  banished  the  goose  which  had  the  vision.  So  they  drove 
her  out  from  among  them.  She  practiced  flying  all  summer  and  made 
her  wings  strong  so  that  in  the  autumn  she  was  able  to  fly  to  the  pleas- 
ant south-land  of  which  she  had  dreamed.    The  Mysterious  Power  which 

[72] 


"had  given  her  the  vision  guided  her  on  the  long  journey  and  she  lived 
pleasantly  through  the  winter  time.  After  the  first  thunder  in  the 
spring-time  she  flew  back  north  to  her  nation.  As  always  before,  many 
<of  them  had  died  during  the  cold  winter-time  from  the  fury  of  the 
storms  and  the  scarcity  of  food.  But  she  told  them  how  pleasantly  she 
had  passed  the  time  in  the  south-land,  and  they  saw  in  what  good  health 
she  was,  so  many  more  of  them  now  believed  her  vision  and  her  teaching. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  the  geese  learned  to  fly  away  to  the  south-land 
in  the  autumn  to  escape  the  storms  and   cold  of  winter  in  this  land. 


THE  CAPTIVE  BIRD:    A  TRUE  STORY  OF  CHILDHOOD 
IN  THE  OMAHA  TRIBE  OF  NEBRASKA 

Indians  in  general  have  a  close  sympathy  with  nature  and  with  all 
living  creatures  and  aspects  of  nature.  And  the  term  living  creatures 
includes  plants  as  well  as  animals,  all  are  living  children  of  Mother  Earth 
and  have  their  rights  to  life  according  to  Indian  thought.  They  do  not 
think  of  humankind  as  being  above  and  separate  from  all  other  creatures, 
l)ut  as  fellow  creatures  in  a  world  of  life. 

The  following  incident,  which  took  place  about  fifty  years  ago  on  the 
prairies  of  Nebraska  among  a  group  of  children  of  the  Omaha  tribe, 
will  serve  to  show  the  attitude  quite  commonly  held  by  Indians  toward 
other  forms  of  life.  It  might  be  well,  also  to  mention  in  this  connection 
that  Indian  children  were  taught  by  their  parents  to  be  not  wasteful  and 
destructive  of  wild  flowers,  that  they  should  not  wantonly  pluck  them,  for, 
they  were  told,  if  they  did  so  they  would  thus  destroy  the  flower  babies 
and  the  flower  nations  would  then  be  exterminated.  Indians  feel  a  fear- 
ful dread  of  the  consequences  of  interfering  with  the  nice  balance  and 
adjustment  of  nature. 

It  was  a  bright,  warm  summer  afternoon  in  northern  Nebraska.  The 
wild  grass,  waving  in  the  summer  breeze,  was  like  a  shimmering  emerald 
sea,  flecked  with  varied  colour  of  the  many  different  tribes  of  wild 
flowers.  Overhead  was  a  brilliantly  blue  sky  with  here  and  there  slow- 
sailing  white  clouds  whose  soft  shadows  came  and  passed,  silent  and  en- 
trancing, over  the  greenth  of  the  prairie.  And  in  all  this  scene  the  liv- 
ing creatures  were  moving,  intent  upon  affairs  of  their  own;  the  crickets 
and  grasshoppers,  and  the  small  mammals  among  the  grass,  the  butter- 
fly flitting  from  flower  to  flower,  the  antelope  grazing  in  groups,  and 
now  and  then  a  hawk  might  be  seen  circling  high  overhead. 

Across  the  prairie  came  a  caravan  of  people  with  their  camp  equi- 
page. A  band  of  Omahas  was  on  the  summer  buffalo  hunt.  The  men 
were  widely  deployed  in  front  and  over  a  wide  extent  on  both  sides  far  in 
advance  of  the  moving  column.  They  were  on  the  lookout  for  signs  of  the 
herd.  When  a  herd  should  be  sighted,  the  scouts  who  had  found  them 
would  at  once  report  to  the  officers.  When  the  camp  was  made  the  of- 
ficers would  confer  and  make  plans  for  the  surround  and  kill. 

The  boys  were  employed  in  looking  after  the  herd  of  extra  horses; 
some  of  the  women  were  with  the  train  of  pack  animals  looking  after  the 
baggage  and  camp  equipment,  others  were  scattered  over  the  prairie  along 

[73] 


the  line  of  march,  carrying  digging  sticks  and  bags  to  gather  tipsin 
roots  for  food. 

Groups  of  small  children,  too  small  to  have  any  particular  tasks  as- 
signed to  them  were  playing  along  the  way,  observing  the  ways  of  beast 
and  bird  and  of  insects,  and  admiring  the  brilliant  wild  flowers.  One 
such  group  found  a  fledgling  meadowlark,  not  yet  able  to  fly.  They 
captured  it  and  brought  it  along  with  them  when  the  band  went  into 
camp  for  the  night.  As  the  families  sat  about  their  tents  waiting  the 
preparation  of  the  evening  meal,  the  children  showed  their  father  the 
captive  bird  and  told  him  how  they  caught  it.  He  listened  to  their 
account  and  then  told  them  something  of  the  life  and  habits  of  the  bird, 
its  nesting  and  home  life,  of  its  love  of  life  and  freedom,  and  of  its 
place  in  the  world  under  the  wise  plans  of  the  Master  of  Life.  He 
brought  the  children  to  see  the  unhappiness  and  the  terror  which  they 
had  unwittingly  brought  upon  the  captive  and  the  anxiety  the  mother  bird 
would  feel  over  its  loss. 

Then  he  said  to  them,  "Now  children,  take  the  little  bird  back  to  the 
place  where  you  found  it  and  set  it  down  in  the  grass,  and  say  *0  Master 
of  Life,  here  is  thy  little  bird  which  we  have  set  free  again.  We  are  sorry 
that  we  took  it  away  from  its  home  and  its  people.  We  did  not  think 
of  the  sorrow  we  should  cause.  We  wish  to  restore  it  and  have  it 
happy  again  with  its  people.  May  we  be  forgiven  for  our  thoughtless- 
ness and  we  will  not  do  such  wrong  again.' " 

The  children  carried  out  their  father's  instructions  and  placed  the 
little  bird  again  as  near  as  they  could  to  the  place  where  they  had  cap- 
tured it  and  recited  the  prayer  to  the  Master  of  Life  which  their  father 
had  admonished  them  to  say.  As  they  returned  to  the  camp  the  quiet  of 
the  summer  evening  lay  over  all  the  land,  the  after-glow  of  the  sunset 
was  in  the  western  sky,  the  white  tents  stood  in  a  great  circle  upon  the 
prairie,  now  dusky-green  in  the  twilight  which  lay  upon  the  land,  a 
twinkling  camp-fire  before  each  tent.  The  children  were  thoughtful. 
They  had  had  a  glimpse  of  the  unity  of  the  universe.  They  never  forgot 
the  lesson.  Years  passed,  great  changes  came.  The  white  people  were 
coming  into  the  land.  Old  activities  and  industries  of  the  Indians  were 
destroyed  by  the  changes.  The  children  of  that  little  group  went  away 
from  their  people  to  attend  the  white  men's  schools,  to  learn  the  white 
men's  ways  and  adapt  themselves  to  those  ways.  But  this  did  not  cause 
them  to  forget  altogether  the  wisdom  and  grace  of  their  parental  teach- 
ing. Long  afterward  they  told  this  little  story  to  the  writer,  who  now 
gives  it  to  you,  reader,  and  wishes  that  you,  also  may  know  that  there  be 
those  in  all  lands  and  among  all  peoples  who  "do  justice,  love  kindness, 
and  walk  humbly  with  God." 


THE  CHICKADEE 

The  chickadee  is  a  very  popular  bird  among  all  the  Indian  tribes 
where  it  is  known.  They  all  have  many  stories  and  sayings  about  it. 
They  say  of  it  that,  though  small,  it  is  a  very  wise  bird.  It  is  like  the 
wise  men,  the  doctors  and  teachers  among  the  people,  who  are  learned  in 
mysteries  and  the  wonderful  things  of  nature,  who  keep  a  calendar  of 

[74] 


the  cycle  of  the  days,  months  and  seasons  through  the  year  by  cutting 
marks  upon  a  piece  of  wood  which  they  have  prepared  for  that  purpose. 

This  wise  little  bird  is  said  also  to  keep  account  of  the  months.  It  is 
said  that  "in  the  beginning"  the  task  of  keeping  account  of  the  months 
was  assigned  to  the  chickadee.  But  instead  of  making  notches  in  a 
piece  of  wood  as  the  wise  men  do  this  wise  bird's  method  is  to  make 
notches  in  its  tongue;  thus  in  September  its  tongue  is  single-pointed, 
in  October  it  has  two  points,  in  November  three,  and  so  on  until  Feb- 
ruary, when  it  is  said  that  its  tongue  has  six  points.  Then  in  March  its 
tongue  is  again  single-pointed  and  the  count  is  begun  again.  So,  it  is 
said,  the  chickadee  has  been  keeping  the  count  of  the  months  since  the 
long  ago,  in  the  dim  past,  when  the  task  was  assigned  to  it  in  the 
time  of  beginnings,  in  the  time  when  evil  powers  and  monsters  struggled 
mightily  to  overcome  the  good,  and  to  destroy  mankind  by  sending  fierce 
storms  and  heavy  snowfalls  and  shuddering  cold  winds  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth.  It  was  thus  the  evil  powers  sought  to  discourage  and  to  over- 
come mankind. 

And  so  it  is  said  that  at  one  time  the  evil  powers  supposed  that  by 
stress  of  a  long  siege  of  cold  and  storms  they  had  reduced  mankind  to 
famine.  At  this  time  they  chose  to  send  the  chickadee  as  a  messenger 
to  find  out  the  conditions  and  to  bring  back  word  to  them. 

Now  when  the  chickadee  came  on  his  mission  and  appeared  at  the 
dwellings  of  men  he  was  invited  to  enter.  He  was  courteously  given 
a  place  by  the  fireside  to  rest  and  warm  himself.  Then  food  was 
brought  to  him.  After  he  had  eaten  and  refreshed  himself  he  was 
anointed  with  fat,  which  was  a  symbol  of  plenty;  then  he  was  painted 
with  red  paint,  which  was  for  a  symbol  of  the  power  and  mystery  of  life. 
After  these  ceremonies  and  marks  of  respect  his  hosts  quietly  com- 
posed themselves  to  give  attention  to  whatever  their  visitor  should  have 
to  say  as  to  the  purpose  of  his  visit.  When  he  had  stated  his  mission 
his  hosts  held  counsel  and  formulated  a  reply  for  the  mesenger  to  take 
back  to  those  who  had  sent  him.  He  was  bidden  to  say  to  them  that 
mankind  was  still  living  and  hopeful,  and  they  ever  would  be;  that  they 
could  not  be  daunted  by  discouragement,  nor  defeated  by  storms  and 
stress,  nor  vanquished  by  hunger,  nor  overcome  by  any  hardships;  and 
that  there  never  would  be  a  time  when  there  should  not  be  men  upon  the 
earth.  So  this  is  the  message  which  the  chickadee  brought  to  the  evil 
powers  which  had  sought  to  overcome  mankind. 


THE  SONG  OF  THE  WREN 

A  Pawnee  Story 
The  incident  of  this  story  occurred  in  the  long  ago  in  the  country  of 
the  Pawnee  nation,  in  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Platte  River  country  in 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Nebraska.  The  event  was  in  the  distant  past 
before  the  Pawnees  had  ever  seen  a  white  man,  or  any  of  his  works  or 
strange  devices.  The  i)eople  of  the  Pawnee  nation  lived  in  villages  of 
houses  built  in  the  manner  that  the  houses  of  Pawnees  had  been  built  for 

[75] 


generations.  Near  their  villages  lay  their  fields  of  com  and  other  crops 
which  they  cultivated  to  supply  themselves  with  food. 

It  was  a  beautiful  morning  in  early  summer.  The  sky  was  clear  and 
bright,  the  dawn-light  was  showing  in  the  eastern  sky.  All  the  land- 
scape lay  as  though  still  sleeping.  There  was  no  movement  anywhere. 
A  thoughtful  priest  had  risen  and  had  walked  out  upon  the  prairie  away 
from  the  village  so  that  he  might  view  and  meditate  upon  the  beauty  and 
mystery  of  the  firmament  of  the  heavens  and  of  the  plane  of  earth, 
and  of  the  living  creatures  thereon,  both  animal  creatures  and  plant 
creatures,  for  in  his  mind  both  were  equally  wonderful  and  equally  in- 
teresting, as  showing  the  power  and  the  wisdom  of  the  Great  Mystery. 
So  he  walked  and  pondered  upon  all  the  beauty  and  mystery  which  lay 
about  him,  while  the  face  of  Mother  Earth  was  still  moist  with  the  dew 
of  sleep.  In  a  moment  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  shone  across  the  land 
touching  into  sparkling  brilliance  the  myriads  of  dewdrops,  while  a  gentle 
movement  ran  through  all  the  grasses  and  the  wild  flowers  as  they 
swayed  to  the  rippling  of  the  gentle  morning  breeze  which  pulsed  over  the 
prairie  at  the  first  touch  of  the  morning  gleam. 

Where  a  moment  before  all  had  been  so  still  and  so  silent  now  there 
was  movement  and  sound.  Birds  of  many  kinds  raised  their  tuneful 
voices,  showing  their  joy  in  life  and  in  the  beauty  of  the  morning.  The 
priest,  whose  mind  and  heart  were  open  to  all  this  beauty  and  melody, 
stood  still  and  listened.  In  a  moment,  among  all  the  other  bird-songs,  he 
heard  one  which  was  clearer  and  more  remarkable  than  any  of  the 
others.  This  song  was  a  most  joyous  cheerful  sound,  like  happy  laughter. 
As  he  approached  he  found  that  the  joyous,  laughing  song  came  from  a 
very  tiny  brown  bird,  no  larger  than  his  thumb.  It  was  a  wren,  so  small, 
so  insignificant  in  comparison  to  the  size  and  brilliant  plumage  of  many 
of  the  other  birds,  yet  it  appeared  to  be  the  most  whole  hearted  in  joy 
and  praise  and  delight  in  life,  as  the  sweet  stream  of  music  welled  from 
its  little  throat. 

The  priest  looked  at  the  tiny  bird,  and  wisely  considered.  He  said 
to  himself:  "The  Great  Mystery  has  shown  me  here  a  wise  teaching  for 
my  people.  This  bird  is  small  and  weak,  but  it  has  its  proper  place  in 
the  world  of  life  and  it  rejoices  in  it  and  gives  thanks  with  gladness. 
Everyone  can  be  happy,  for  happiness  is  not  from  without,  but  from  with- 
in, in  properly  fitting  and  fulfilling  each  his  own  place.  The  humblest 
can  have  a  song  of  thanks  in  his  own  heart." 

So  he  made  a  song  and  a  story  to  be  sung  in  a  great  religious  ritual 
of  his  people,  which  was  to  them  like  our  Bible  and  prayer-book  are  to  us. 
And  the  song  and  story  which  that  thoughtful  priest  put  into  the  ritual, 
was  the  story  of  the  wren.  And  ever  since  that  time  so  long  ago,  the 
song  has  been  sung  by  the  Pawnees  and  has  been  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation  until  this  time. 


THE  WAR  EAGLE  AND  THE  JACK-RABBIT 

A  Manda/n  Story 
One  time  a  party  of  men  went  into  a  lonely  place  among  the  hills  far 
away  from  the  village,  to  enter  their  eagle  pits  for  the  purpose  of  catch- 

[76] 


ing  eagles  to  obtain  their  plumes.  One  of  the  men  had  made  his  pit  far 
out  at  some  distance  from  any  of  the  others.  Another  day,  as  he  was 
coming  away  from  his  eagle  pit,  returning  to  the  village,  he  stopi)ed  and 
sat  down  upon  the  top  of  a  high  hill  from  which  he  could  enjoy  a  grand 
view  of  the  landscape.  Thus  he  sat  looking  about  over  the  quiet  hills  and 
valleys,  beyond  the  bright  gleam  which  showed  the  course  of  the  river 
winding  in  and  out  among  the  green  trees  along  its  borders,  far  away 
to  the  dim  sky  line.  Far  away  on  one  side  he  saw  a  number  of  elks 
feeding;  on  the  other  side  he  saw  a  band  of  graceful  antelopes.  A  doe 
and  her  fawn  were  browsing  upon  some  bushes  down  near  the  river. 

Aloft  he  saw  the  white  clouds  sailing  in  the  bright  blue  sky;  below 
he  saw  their  shadows  moving  over  the  earth,  now  up  a  hillside  and  over 
its  crest  and  then  swiftly  across  a  little  valley  and  up  the  next  hillside. 
While  he  sat  enjoying  the  beauty  of  the  scene  he  observed  a  war  eagle 
chasing  a  jack-rabbit.  The  jack-rabbit  continually  dodged  and  circled, 
trying  to  escape  as  the  eagle  swooped  toward  him.  The  eagle  had  several 
times  swooped  and  just  missed  striking  the  rabbit. 

Gradually  the  chase  came  near  to  the  place  where  the  man  was 
seated.  The  eagle  was  closely  pursuing  the  rabbit  and  made  a  tremend- 
ous swoop  towards  him.  But  the  rabbit  escaped  by  leaping  into  the 
man's  robe  as  he  sat  with  it  loosely  draped  about  his  shoulders  and 
knees. 

Then  the  eagle  said  "Put  that  rabbit  away  from  you!  He  is  my  prey. 
I  intend  to  eat  him." 

But  now  the  rabbit  appealed  to  the  man  and  said,  "I  have  thrown 
myself  upon  your  kindness.  Do  not  turn  me  away.  I  beg  of  you.  If  you 
save  me  you  shall  hereafter  have  success  in  your  undertakings  and  you 
shall  become  a  great  man." 

Then  the  eagle  spoke  again,  saying,  "His  words  are  not  true.  Turn 
him  away.  He  can  do  nothing  for  you.  I,  myself  will  make  you  great 
if  you  will  do  as  I  request.  It  is  I  who  speak  the  truth.  My  feet  are  not 
held  to  the  earth  and  I  can  also  fly  in  the  air  far  above  the  earth.  I  am 
successful  in  all  the  things  I  attempt." 

Once  more  the  jack-rabbit  made  his  plea.  "Believe  him  not,  and  do 
not  turn  me  away!  Even  though  I  must  remain  upon  the  ground,  and 
cannot  fly  like  the  eagle,  still  I  have  knowledge  proper  to  my  condi- 
tions of  life,  and  I  know  how  to  do  many  things  suitably  and  success- 
fully." 

The  man  made  his  decision  in  favor  of  the  jack-rabbit  and  saved  him 
from  the  eagle.  And  the  jack-rabbit  kept  his  promise  to  the  man,  for 
he  gave  him  of  his  own  powers  and  made  him  successful  in  his  under- 
takings and  helped  him  with  good  and  wise  counsel  in  times  of  trouble 
and  doubt  and  perplexity.  So  the  man  gained  great  renown  and  honor 
and  influence  among  his  people. 


[77] 


INDEX 


Page 

Dedication    5 

Introduction    7 

LAND  AND  PEOPLE 

Nature  and  Health 9 

Spirit  of  Life  10 

Attitude  Towards  Native  Life 10 

Indians*  Appreciation  and  Love  of  Their  Homeland 12 

Song  to  the  Trees  and  Streams 12 

Thrillnig  Escape  of  a  Besieged  War  Party 12 

A  Mandan  Monument 14 

The  Legend  of  Standing  Rock  15 

The  Holy  Hill  Pahuk  17 

The  Lodge  of  the  Black-tail  Deer  which  Talked  with  Its  Captor. 23 

The  Wonderful  Basket 24 

Cause  of  the  Breaking-up  of  Ice  in  the  Missouri  River. 26 

The  Waterspring  of  the  Holy  Man 27 

The  Sacred  Symbol  of  the  Circle 31 

The  Sacred  Number  Four 31 

The  Pristine  Prairie 32 

Aboriginal  American  Agriculture 35 

Description  of  an  Earthlodge  37 

Hymn  to  the  Sun  38 

Description  of  a  Tipi __  39 

An  Omaha  Ghost  Story 40 

An  Omaha  Hero  Song  4I 

STORIES  OF  THE  PLANT  PEOPLE 

Sacred  Trees  43 

The  Song  of  the  Pasque  Flower 46 

The  Prairie  Rose  48 

The  Song  of  the  Wild  Rose 49 

Use  of  the  Ground  Bean  50 

Tipsin:  An  Important  Native  Food  Plant 52 

How  the  People  Obtained  the  Precious  Gift  of  Com 53 

A  Group  of  Pawnee  Hymns  to  Corn 56 

The  Forgotten  Ear  of  Com  58 

How  the  Usefulness  of  Wild  Rice  Was  Discovered 58 

A  Story  of  the  Sunflower  59 

Dakota  Folklore  of  the  Spiderwort 60 

STORIES  OF  THE  FOUR-FOOTED  PEOPLE 

The  Faithful  Dog 61 

How  Coyote  Chief  Was  Punished 63 

The  Skunk  and  the  Bear 65 

The  Song  of  the  Old  Wolf ZIZ'.ZZZZZZ  65 

[79] 


STORIES  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  AIR 

Folk  Sayings  About  the  Meadowlark -. 67 

How  the  Meadowlark  Won  the  Race 68 

Folklore  of  the  Horned  Lark  72 

How  It  Came  About  that  Geese  Migrate 72" 

The  Captive  Bird  73 

The  Chickadee   -       74 

The  Song  of  the  Wren  75' 

The  War  Eagle  and  the  Jack-rabbit -- 76 

MAPS 

Map  to  Show  Distribution  of  Tribes 4 

Map  to  Show  Aboriginal  Agriculture 34 

Map  of  Geographical  Distribution  of  Pasque  Flower........ 46' 


Bismarck  Tribune  "Trint 


[80] 


OVERDUE. 


U)  21-100m-8,'34 


'»-   hV^( 


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